14 Days of Graduation
by Dragonling743
Summary: So to celebrate my impending free-time that will soon be run over by job and college prep, I have decided to run the 14 days of graduation. Each one-shot will have been written in a day while listening to a random song chosen by an 'unbiased' being. These will all be W13 and most will be Cleena or B&W Enjoy peeps
1. Familiar taste of Poison by Halestorm

**A/N:** Alright, this is day number one. My muse today is "Familiar Taste Of Poison" by Halestorm.

I started this late so forgive me of any serious OOC acts and foul-ups. AU also inspired by something mentioned in 0zero's story All The Worlds. Check it out dudes, amazing stuff right there.

Rating:**T** for violence, and famslash B&W

_I tell myself that you're no good for me_

_I wish you well, but desire never leaves._

_I could fight this til the end,_

_but maybe I don't want to win._

All I could see of Helena was her mane of ebon hair through the window of the regent's car as they took her away. Every time we came head to head I knew, she would come out on top, she would win, she would be the bad guy. At the same time, I didn't really care anymore.

"_I'll be back, don't worry Myka."_ That's what she had said, her voice washing over my ears again.

_The promises,_

_were spoiled before they left your lips._

In the end I was the one who came back. I'm always the one to bring her back, to this place. Endless wonder, yeah right. For her it's endless pain. But in the end, it was Emily Lake I brought back, I was able to pretend it wasn't Helena. For a little while.

Every touch, every word, even that stupid american accent. It hit me again that I was in the presence of my love, my obsession, and she could not know it. Emily made my heart ache for the woman that she once was, but she also had so little of the pain, hate that Helena had.

_The sweet escape is always laced with_

_a familiar taste of poison_

Oh God when Helena came back, it hurt so much but I couldn't help myself, I threw myself into her arms, sobbing like a fool. I kissed her in front of the others, I forgot even my own name in those sweet seconds.

"Myka." Her voice, soft and warm brought me up short, my rational side took over.

"Oh God H.G., I'm so sorry." I whispered, horrified at myself.

"Would you like to out with me for dinner?" She asked, touching my jaw with a light finger.

_I don't want to wake up, no not this time_

That first date was heaven. I spent every second memorizing her face, her voice, every piece of Helena that I had not seen in so long. I barely ate. The conversation was pointless drivel about the minor changes to our roster.

Steve managed to stay the topic for all of ten minutes before I felt Helena's hand on my thigh rubbing soft circles. My breath hitched in my throat, I couldn't see anything but her black as pitch eyes staring me down.

She missed me too.

Our second date was a little less formal. Pristine white place settings on a round table in the BnB. Flames leaping on thick candles. She had made dinner, and already I was babbling.

"Helena, you didn't have to do all-"

"Drink the wine my darling." She said, offering me a glass of red liquid. I sipped, glancing awkwardly at the red roses she had scattered across the table and floor. The light flickering across her cheeks mixed with the red of the petals sapped her of some color, leaving her a ghostly angel.

_But the roses were only to drain my inspiration,_

I couldn't look away from her. So dark, so lovely. Her black low-cut dress only enhanced the spectral effects of the light and decor. I drank the last of the wine in my glass with an unlady-like gulp, standing up so I could be near this vision of beauty, the lines wavering until I wondered if she wasn't a ghost.

Then, her lips were on mine, hot, hungry, mine.

_I breathe you in again just to feel you,_

_Underneath my skin_

_The sweet escape is always_

_laced with a familiar taste of_

_poison._

The lines of her face, my world started to waver, the floor shifted beneath my feet. I clung to the woman who's love I craved, but her smile was wrong, too casual, too serene.

_The promises_

_were spoiled before they left your lips_

Poison. I had told her to kill me, on that hill in Yosemite. She hadn't the resolve then, but she did now. It tugged at my heart to see the gleam of pride in her eyes. I knew she was gloating over my death, and I couldn't help but love her anyway.

"Drink the wine my darling." She said, her lips brushing my ear as her hands gripped my waist, holding me up. I stared into the insane gleam hiding in Helena G. Well's eyes, and my last thought as the world faded...

_I tell myself that you're no good for me_

_I wish you well, but the desire never leaves_

_I could fight this til the end of time_

_But I don't want to win._


	2. Hot Air Balloons by Owl City

**A/N: **Day #2 My muse is "Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City.

And I am sorry about how.. it turned out, I really thought this would be a cheerful little vignette.

oh my gosh, almost didn't make it with this one. All mistakes are totally my fault no Betas.

Characters: Claudia, Leena

Rating: K +

_We wrote a prelude to our own fairytale,_

_And bought a parachute at a church rummage sale._

"Easy peasy lemon squeezy." Claudia declared, tossing the newly snagged artifact into the trunk of her Prius.

"It's hard to think that a toy like that could have any bad effects." Leena replied with a worried look, "I wonder how many children have been affected by it."

"You worry too much Leens, it's just a silly parachute I doubt it did anything crazy. If it's really bothering you just send a line to grampa grumpy and ask him who dunnit."

Leena giggled at Claudia's mix of gibberish and nicknames, "Are you sure English was your first language?"

"Blah blah woof woof." Claudia replies, putting the car into gear for the long drive back to Unaville.

They continued to chat, going back and forth with playful nicknames and teasing statements. The parachute remained forgotten in the trunk.

The two girls were laughing when they came in hauling what felt like twenty pounds of crimson and navy nylon through the umbilicus. Myka was surrounded by reference cards, her new pet project to get them organized, and cataloged in the system. Artie of course, is upstairs grumbling to himself about Myka's meddling with his system. Method to the madness and all that. Claudia was pretty sure it was plain ol' madness.

Pete had a cookie hanging out of his mouth when he saw them and mumbled through crumbs and chocolate, "phey gras phat?" He pointed at the artifact to be sure they understood.

Claudia laughed, "It's an artifact dingwall."

"That is not just any artifact, don't just stand there swinging Albert Schoenhut's parachute around like a pair of children! Go! Aisle Kringle 84 now!" Artie's dulcet tones rang out through the building so loud Pete was sure he coulda heard it from the other side of the Dark Vault.

"Kringle 84?" Leena frowned, looking at the parachute with concern, "Isn't that the aisle.."

"Yes yes, inside the Dark Vault." Artie waved his hands at them, "Now get out before someone touches that thing!"

Claudia and Leena were quite sobered by their destination, and even Claud started to wonder what the thing did.

"..Y-you haven't heard of Albert Schoenhut have you?" Claudia asked timidly.

"I know he made toys, a lot of his stuff is really valuable now. I saw a wooden doll set for over two hundred dollars."

Claudia whistled, "Wait, you were looking at dolls? For who? Doth I perceive that mysterious Leena has a penchant for dolls?" She asks playfully.

"Maybe." Leena mumbles self-consciously, "Let's talk about this later." She stiffens her gait when they reach the Vault. Not even artifact savvy Leena, or future caretaker Claud were comfortable there.

Their steps were measured, eyes darting everywhere except when they met the gazes of faces that shouldn't have been there. A small porcelain doll gave Claudia a malicious smile, one eye missing and the dress charred, Claudia shuddered, forcing her gaze to the floor.

"I will never forgive Jonathan Coulton for that song. Creepy doll is right." Claud muttered.

"I'm more worried about Bierce's cat's cradle." Leena took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "It strangles you, and just before you die it lets you see your worst nightmare."

"Remember I said Dark Vault equals coolness? Nix that."

_So bored to death you held your breath and I tried not to yawn,_

_You make my frown turn upside down and now my worries are gone._

The women found their target pillar right on the edge of the wall which made Claudia a little more comfortable since that meant it only barely made the cut. Still, Artifacts only made the vault if they had some nasty after effects.

They set the bundle down on the pedestal with a sigh of relief, turned the purple skylight on, and neither one remembered that it had rested on their bare forearms.

_I'll be out of my mind, _

_and you'll be out of ideas pretty soon,_

_so let's spend the afternoon._

Myka held back a laugh when Leena dragged Claudia back out of the warehouse only an hour after they'd arrived with artifact in tow. It was fun to see those two bonding, and today was a great day to skip work. The sun was shining softly, a cool breeze blowing. Perfect weather for an adventure.

Myka settled deeper into her soft chair and prepared for a soothing afternoon of sorting.

Leena and Claudia on the other hand, raced back to the BnB, for once nothing was said about Claud's driving. They made it in record time, stumbling out of the car on legs still wobbly from the speed.

"Come on, I have a great idea of what we should do today!" Claudia dragged a giggling Leena into the house where the rest of the day crashes, bangs, the shattering of glass and raucous laughter echoed deafeningly.

_We round a race track through your mom's kitchen chairs,_

_And fought the shadows back down your dark basement stairs,_

_I lit a match and let it catch to light up the room._

_..._

_We drank the great lakes like cold lemonade,_

_and both got stomach aches sprawled out in the shade._

"Hey guys we're ho-ome!" Pete yelled per usual, his volume grating on both Artie and Myka.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Pete stopped in his tracks to see furniture overturned, stair railing bent oddly. Three different vases had been shattered, pillows and feathers were scattered across the mayhem, and something told Pete it continued throughout the house.

"Leena? Claudia?" Myka called cautiously, picking her way through the destruction like it was radioactive. Chairs were thrown about haphazardly, the kitchen was a total mess, flour everywhere, and lemonade spilled on the counter had turned the powder into a crusty paste.

"Geez, it looks like a tornado came through." Pete mumbled, "I'm gonna check upstairs." He pounded up the steps to find that his room and Myka's were just the same, but Claudia and Leena's had been ransacked. "Guys! I'm getting a really bad feeling." He yelled down the steps.

"Myka! Pete!" Artie screeched from the backyard, "Come quick!"

The two agents sprinted outside gun and tesla drawn, they halted in front of Artie, scouring the landscape for the source of Artie's yell. Artie himself was now frozen in shock. Myka saw it first and tugged on his arm to bring the disturbing sight to his attention.

_I'll be out of my mind_

_and you'll be out of ideas pretty soon._

Myka threw herself across the lawn at the two women whom she considered her sisters in every sense of the word. "Claudia? Leena? What happened?" Her panicked voice rang out across the yard.

They were lying face up in the grass barely making a sound but for Leena's wheezing breaths.

"Man that was AWESOME." Claudia exclaims breathlessly, totally ignoring Myka's worried questions. "We need to do that again."

"Gimme a sec Claud," Leena wheezed, "Gotta catch my breath before we do that again."

Pete was right behind Myka, "Dudes, what happened to the house? Have, have you guys been drinking?"

"Drinking? What are we old?" Leena scoffs.

"Yeah, only oldster McCrankypants drink." Claudia pipes up.

"Whammied?" Pete asks Myka.

"I sure hope so."

Artie huffed and puffed his way down the yard, finally recovered from his shock at the sight of the two women lying on the ground. When he saw Myka was not wailing in grief, it alleviated the deep-seated fear that they were lying dead in the yard from some horrible fate.

"What's going on? Have you figured out what happened at the house?" Artie demanded in his usual loud fashion.

"Look at the sky Leena, isn't it pretty?" Claudia asked her friend dreamily

"Mhmm, blue and red, so pretty. How did they get it so close?"

Pete squinted at the sky, "Mykes, I get the blue part, but I'm not seeing any red."

"Pete!" She punched his arm, "The parachute was red and blue!"

"Owww! Stop doing that, you coulda just told me."

"Both of you need to get to the warehouse now! Get me that artifact now!" Artie hollered.

Pete and Myka snapped into motion, racing for the car. When Artie got scared, you didn't question, you just jumped.

_I'll be out of my mind, _

_And you'll be out of ideas pretty soon._

"Okay Artie, explain again what this artifact does?" Myka asked through the Farnsworth, Pete was driving since he didn't mind breaking the traffic laws quite so much.

"This Parachute was sewn by a German immigrant Albert Schoenhut when he was sailing across on the ship. His usual medium was wood, but you can't find much of that on a steamer. He made it as a game for his cousins to play with, but they were so scarred by life in Germany at the time that they just couldn't play anymore. They'd lost their child-like qualities. He wished so hard to change things that now the parachute turns anyone who touches it into a child."

"Okay but why is this so bad it's in Kringle84? That's like toys from Cthulhu aisle." Pete interrupted whatever Artie was going to say next.

"As I was saying." Artie glared at Pete through the screen, his eyebrows taking over the picture. "It turns them into a child mentally. But blocking adult inhibitions takes energy. The downside is that if those affected become bored, they age. Something along the lines of 'I need to kill some time.' It also has the added effect that if they spend too much time exposed the parachute comes down upon their mind just like the child's game, and smashes what's left. They go insane, Pete. Insane. So you get that thing over here as fast as you can with some extra gloves for me."

"What? Artie wh-?" He turned off the recorder in the middle of Myka's sentence. She would have been fuming for hours if it weren't for Claud and Leena depending on their speed.

_With a mean sewing machine and miles of thread_

_We sewed the day above L.A. in navy and red._

"Artiiieeeee." Claudia whined, "Can we please go outside now?"

Leena was pouting, her arms wrapped tight around a porcelain doll, "Yeah, I'm bore-!"

"Do not say that word!" Artie exclaimed, getting to the edge of his rope, he pleaded to all that was holy that Pete and Myka were breaking every traffic law ever conceived.

"How about we get out the sewing machine and Claudia can make Leena a new doll while Leena and I make up some scotchies. That way we both get to make a surprise. How's that?" He begged, on hands and knees, groveled, pleaded that the girls would agree.

"Fiiiinnnee." Claudia grumbled, but her jerky excited dance said otherwise. Leena was even more excited at the prospect of another doll.

"Can you give it red hair Claudia? Like yours?" Leena asked, all pouting forgotten.

"Mhmm, but only if you put extra chocolate chips in the cookies." Claudia grinned brightly.

"Deal."

Artie hauls Leena off to the kitchen, constantly giving her instructions until he's scolded viciously for not having enough fun and gets whacked on the head with the batter spoon.

He came out of the kitchen looking cowed, and all he got from Claud was a look that said 'you deserve it mr. grouch' and a head shake. Thankfully his Farnsworth went off and Pete was yelling excitedly, "We got it! We got it. We're almost there!"

"Excellent, bring it out back!" Artie shut the lid on them again and started urging the girls outside saying, "Come on, Pete and Myka brought us a new game, so we have to some outside to play it with them."

They skipped and raced out in the yard, and if they weren't the same on the outside, he would've sworn they had gotten younger by a decade each.

"Oh thank God, you're finally here. They've been complaining about how close the sky is. We need to get this done now!"

"Well what are we supposed to do with this thing anyway?" Pete held it up in his purple gloved hands, and Artie rolled his eyes while trying to squeeze his hand into the wrong sized gloves.

"Pete, didn't you play this as a kid? We all get on an end with a handle, lift it up high, and while it's coming down we dive under it. I used to do it all the time with sheets." Myka explained, once more exasperated by his lack of knowledge.

Artie snapped that pair and growled to himself about time fading away. The girls were huddled on the ground whispering to each other and looking up at the sky. Pete and Myka spread out the parachute while Artie dug in his pockets for the proper sized gloves. With a shout he plucked a pair out of his inner coat pocket.

He pulled them on and called to the girls, "Grab an end, come on, let's play the game they brought."

They ran hunched over, and took their places, instinctually knowing where they needed to be which gave Artie some small bit of confidence. They practiced lifting the parachute a few times and decided to jump on the count of three.

"One." Pete called, the red was getting closer.

"Two" Myka sounded hesitant, Myka's head had already disappeared through the fabric no one else could see.

"Three!" Arthur yelled, everyone diving under the colorful nylon seconds before the invisible sky touched Leena's head.

_Lean out and touch the tree tops over town,_

_I can't wait to kiss the ground wherever we touch back down._

No one talked about that day very much. The cleanup was a horror, most of the furniture had to be replaced, and both women avoided Kringle84 like it held Bubonic plague.

The one thing however that both Leena and Claudia cherished about their foggy memories of the crazy afternoon was the small red haired doll that Leena kept on her dresser. It's rough yarn hair and out of proportion purple vest with a bottle-top pin was her favorite of all of them.


	3. Monster by Skillet

**A/N:**Today is day three. My muse will be 'Monster' by Skillet

Rating: K+

Characters: Myka, H. , Walter Sykes

Disclaimer: I own no thing, no one, no how.

_The secret side of me_

_I never let you see_

My name is Myka Ophelia Bering, Knight, soon to be Master of the Jedi order. At least, I'll be a master if I can get out of this mess.

Currently I am kneeling on a flexible durasteel floor meditating on possible outcomes and plans. My padawan however is ever impatient, something she has yet to shake, and worse she taught me how to be impatient. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Teacher teaches, student learns.

More and more I find that it is both of us learning together. I am simply labeled teacher so no one gets confused as to who is in charge. That really is important with a padawan like mine. So charismatic is she, that I almost found myself letting her make the rules, choose the assignments, and speak during missions.

You see, Helena is a Cathar, naturally empathic, beautiful even for her race, and quite intelligent. Together these traits have created a strong jedi, perhaps a little less controlled than is proper, but she gets results better than most knights.

She also has trouble remaining still for meditation. For anything really. I do not think I have seen my student sit for more than three minutes without twitching, flinching or fiddling with something. Thankfully her connection to the force is such that she actually connects better during combat, while her focus is centered on a single opponent, Helena uses the force to observe everything else going on. It really is quite extraordinary, except in cases like this, when we are in a tight spot and I need silence to meditate.

"Helena." Just the mention of her name had the Cathar spinning to attention, hands spread like she had her sabers.

"Oh, sorry Master." Her pale patterned skin looked strange with a blush on it, so rarely did the girl have a reason to be embarrassed. She plopped down to her knees, matching my calm pose with barely contained energy that was almost as distracting as it was familiar.

There was a long pause, I could almost release myself into the force, let it take my mind to the secrets I needed when Helena spoke up. "How do you do it Master Bering?"

I sighed and opened my eyes, "Do what Helena?"

"Stay calm. I know you're the best Jedi master Yoda ever trained, but how can you just sit here in the holding cell of Walter Sykes' flagship?" Her accent, low and rich like a half purr was calming as always, and I let my ears soak up the sound.

"I am not the best Helena, and this is called control, something Jedi attempt to perfect, you may want to try it sometime."

She rolled her eyes, I could almost feel it, "You are, even Master Neilson says it when you can't hear. Besides, compared to you, no one has control. We were surrounded by a pack of Gundarks and you didn't even bat an eye."

"We weren't surrounded, there were none beneath us." I replied primly.

"You're the only one who can beat me with sabers, you're the youngest Master in the history of the Jedi... Well if we get out of this." There it was, the reason for her tension. A small quiver, my Helena was afraid.

"Well if you are quiet, then I will find us a way out so you can say you were trained by the best Jedi ever." If only she knew how wrong she was.

_I feel it deep within,_

_It's just beneath the skin_

_I must confess that I feel like a monster_

I guess I might as well explain how we got to be in the holding cell of a Sith Lord since we aren't going anywhere yet.

We had been exploring Korriban on orders to take control of any artifacts from the Sith who had inhabited the barren planet so long ago. The traps, puzzles, and guards place in the tombs warranted a strong team of intelligent people. Helena and I were chosen by Masters Yoda, Windu, and Obi Wan to take on this mission.

It had been attempted before, and failed resulting in a general attitude of ambivalence from the Council and the Senate both. Now with Walter Sykes on the loose creating havoc wherever he went with powerful weapons created by ancient Sith and Jedi both we had been tasked with ensuring that no one could obtain these artifacts of mass destruction without the help of Jedi.

Everything was going as plan, a couple close calls of course, but Exar Kun's tomb was last. We had both felt that this was going to be the most dangerous. If it had come to our lives, we needed to know that we had secured as much of the site as possible, so we were confident entering the final tomb that we had done our best no matter what.

Too confident perhaps. I should have known better.

Sykes utilized some kind of neurotoxin inside an ancient terminal. Helena started slicing the system, and the first keystrokes went fine, but as she progressed in the program I realized that the dust was gone, keys covered in balled up dust where fingers had swept it together, junk moved out of the way of glitching doors.

"Helena." It was all I could say before the gas was emitted from the terminal.

We woke in the sparse holding cell a few hours ago.

_Shck-hiss._ The door slid open and Helena was on her feet before I could warn her off.

"Child." Sykes sneered, flinging her into a wall without even moving his hands. He was paralyzed from the waist down, had no skill with a saber, and was barely passable as a scholar, but his mastery of the force was formidable to say the least. Even Yoda showed fear at the idea of taking Sykes on.

"You wanted to speak with us?" I asked, knowing that if our death was his goal, we wouldn't have woken up. Helena stared at me, astounded that I made no move to alter my passive position.

He gave an infuriating smile that never reached his dead red eyes. "I have a job for you two. Come."

I pushed back the frightening stirrings in my stomach. I never got angry anymore, I had learned my lessons well, but this man might just be able to anger me.

_I keep it caged_

_But I can't control it_

_So stay away from me_

_The beast is ugly_

_I feel the rage_

_And I just can't hold it_

"_Hey Myka! You coming?" Pete yelled, running to my porch his head-tails flapping in the breeze._

"_Yeah just-"_

"_Myka Ophelia Bering, inside. Now." My father was standing with folded arms. His blatant disapproval of my friend hurt my feelings, made me want to ask what right he had to rule my life. He never cared about me, only our family name._

_This happened again and again until I snapped._

"_NO! He's my friend, you can't tell me what to do!" I was a girl of five, all I wanted was a friend._

_My father was enraged at my insolence, he placed a hand on my shoulder. I pretend not to remember what happened because I felt it would be a weakness._

_My eyes turned scarlet, my skin mottled grey and my blonde hair became shot through with black. I waved an arm and my father went flying into the house._

"_Whoa Myka, what's-?" Pete started backing away._

"_Stay!" I cried, he froze in place, paralyzed by some force._

_I could feel the rage, anger ripping through my small form, urging me to leave such nasty, petty people to their own devices. A woman, dressed in white Jedi robes took me in her arms, hugging me tight. Jedi knight Leena was my teacher during my years as an apprentice._

_Every tiny thing set me off again. I never actually went to the Jedi academy. I was too dangerous._

_It's scratching on the walls_

_In the closet, in the halls_

_It comes awake_

_In my body, in my head_

_Make it end!_

We were led from the chamber to the tomb where Helena and I had failed to get in. Marcus a fallen Jedi attached to Sykes opened the final door with a code and allowed us to enter first.

The chamber was simple durasteel, a single holochess board, and one chair built with an open collar on the neck. "It's a lock." I said flatly, "Why would we open it for you? Our job here was to prevent anything of this kind."

Sykes flicked his fingers at Helena whose body flew into the chair, and the collar closed around her throat.

My hands clenched, nothing else changed on the outside. My face was passive, body relaxed, breathing smooth. But inside, inside I was growing angry.

_My secret side I keep_

_Hid under lock and key_

_I keep it caged_

_But I can't control it_

_Cause if I let him out_

_He'll tear me up_

_And break me down_

Helena tugged at her bonds, her pupils turned to slits in fear.

"Don't bother reaching for the force, the chair cancels out any sensitivity." Sykes told her.

"I can see you tried this on some of your own minions, how many?" She hissed. I could sense her fear making her rash.

"Helena, remember, there is no emotion, there is peace." I said with a strong voice I did not feel inside. She stared at me with panic, this sweet brilliant girl, like a daughter, like an old friend, our hearts spoke to each other. I had always known our bond was stronger than a Master and Padawan should be, but I could not help loving the girl. Now I understand why we are not supposed to love. The monster twisted in my iron grip, testing my boundaries once again.

"How sweet. If only she could sense what rage, uncontrollable rage coursed through your veins, ripping at your will to be released. It is an impressive storm Jedi." Sykes chuckled, "Now, if you would like your precious padawan to survive her little encounter, I would suggest you start playing chess."

I nodded curtly and put my focus to the board, weighing our options while I assessed the status of the game. Neither were good. I could beat the men if I had my saber, or one of theirs, but Helena would die with Sykes' grip on her. He was fast enough for that. The game was in a similar position.

No way out, the king was in check. Everything was against him, no move would bring him out of harms way.

"Make your move." The newer Sith growled, squeezing Helena in a force choke, "The chair isn't the only thing that can kill her."

"A8 to H5." I said tersely.

Helena coughed as the hold was released, thankfully she was too busy typing in the changes to notice the change. I am losing control. I need to finish this.

The computer made it's move putting Helena in check again. Marcus growled, uncontrolled just like any other Sith, except Sykes. The man who had no heart, I don't know what happened to him, but he had only one emotion. Anger.

The monster scoffed, _I'll show him anger, let me out, you know we'll win._

"B9 to A8." I growled, slipping visibly. Helena jumped at the sound of my voice.

"Myka?" She whispered roughly, her normally soothing voice grated on my nerves.

"B9. To. A8. Now." I enunciated. She moved the piece and whimpered when the computer put her into checkmate.

_It's hiding in the dark_

_It's teeth are razor sharp_

_There's no escape for me_

_It wants my soul,_

_It wants my heart_

"Time is running short." Sykes informed me quietly.

Helena pleaded silently for me to fix this, to help her. She was just a child, twenty was too young to die, I should be the one to protect her. I owed her anything in my power to keep her safe. I loved her.

_Time to changed the rules. _I decided.

I took a deep breath and let go, let the delicious rage wash over me, the unfairness I had seen, the man mocking me with his indifference, the pathetic arrogance that they were in charge. All of these were fuels for the rage that had always been rippling under my skin.

Sam's foolish mistakes, I always knew it was his fault, but I fought the monster so hard i refused to believe it, now it was obvious. Helena was impetuous, unable to control herself for anything other than combat, she would be a good Guardian.

I could feel the shift of my body following the path of my fury. My hair had been irrevocably changed that day, but now it reached a full black, the skin around my eyes yellowed, my eyes itched as the entire surface changed, turning burgundy I knew. I doubted I had any white left and I didn't care.

I let out a snarl of fury and ripped both men's lightsabers from their belts, I leapt to them and beheaded both in a single move. I flicked one dark grey finger and the chair released my charge.

Helena coughed and said, "Myka? What's happening, I can-.." I knew the moment she reforged her connection with the force. Felt the darkness coursing through me, pulsing like a beacon to half the galaxy I knew, and I didn't care.

"Myka?" Her voice quivered, I could smell her fear and it made me hungry. The monster was taking over. The great Jedi I had been for so long was slowly shrinking, her tiny voice screaming for me to let the girl go.

_It's hiding in the dark_

_It's teeth are razor sharp_

_There's no escape for me_

_It wants my soul,_

_It wants my heart_

"Get out Helena. Lock the doors, and don't let me out." The Jedi spoke in a dark voice, "Run." The woman I was disappeared in that moment. Helena sprinted out of the room using the force to urge her faster. She shut the doors behind herself and I heard the ear grinding crunch as the lock was jammed.

The monster snarled, tearing at the door uselessly with both Sabers. Their beams broken by the door's shield.

Myka Ophelia Bering was once my name.

_I feel it deep within,_

_It's just beneath the skin_

_I must confess that I feel like a monster_

_I hate what I've become_

_The nightmare's just begun_

_I must confess that I feel like a monster_

I knelt down in meditation. For now I was back to the beginning. A trapped monster waiting to be released.

In my mind's eye I saw Helena racing back to our ship with tears in her eyes and my saber in her trembling hand.


	4. Hero by Skillet

**A/N: **Alrighty, day #4 is upon us. My muse this morning is 'Hero' also by Skillet,

(Don't blame me, I'm not actually in charge of the song picking.) I dunno if any of you have this, but all my songs can be found on Spotify, probably Pandora too, but I wouldn't know.

I've had a few requests, so today will have all my favorite ladies, and will also continue the Star Wars theme. FYI totally not the same AU.

My thanks to John6lisa, StraightJacket xD, and Anon for their requests and their reviews. If anyone else wants to see a particular song, AU etc, them Review/PM whatever and it'll get done.

Rating: **K+**

_It's just another war_

_Just another family torn_

_(Falling from my faith today)_

_Just a step from the edge_

_Just another day in the world we live_

Master Arthur was sitting at the head of the oval table, Myka, Pete, Steve and HG sitting around him leaving the foot of the table for me. Again. Being the only padawan in a house full of Jedi Knights and one Master was really annoying sometimes. They would have their little conferences, providing input, being useful, actually doing something, and I would sit. Waiting for someone to tell me what to do, it was frustrating.

If Master Artie could hear my thoughts he would have a conniption so I took my seat with a sigh, grabbing one of Leena's scones to munch. It tasted like cardboard this morning, Artie would have said it builds character, but I knew it was just me being down again.

After Sykes had tried to blow up the freighter everyone was on edge. Especially Master Artie.

Okay, not everything was bad about it. HG and Myka were holding hands under the table, they had been sweet on each other for a long time, the tension in the room was visible to everyone, force sensitive or not. It was actually a relief now that they had just allowed things to happen.

I smiled at them, older sisters in almost every sense of the word. We were all family here, perhaps a bit more closely knit than most Jedi teams, more like the loyalty the Council held for each member of it's ranks.

We would give ourselves not just for the mission, but for each other too, it made us stronger no matter what the nay-sayers like Valda, and Kosan said. But they were only members of the Senate, they had no say over Jedi, just the Warehouse.

Leena came over to check on everyone, making her way around the table until she came by me. I don't know what she said, I'm sure it was something about the food, but all I knew was that her hand was resting on my back. Her warm fingers felt like they were burning a hole through my robes. I knew I ran a few degrees cooler than most other species, but this was insane, no one ever made me flush like Leena.

I swear it's not biologically possible for my skin to change colors like that, I mean it's stuck in this weird gray, I might be able to blush blue, but how would they know I was blushing? Whenever Leena hugs me, touches my shoulder, kisses my cheek, I feel like my skin is bursting in flames anyway.

It's bad enough I get a bad reputation for being Dathomirian, but have to have a crush on the caretaker too?

I jerked to my feet, mumbled "Yeah" in answer to whatever it was she was saying and sprinted out of the living quarters into our larger storage bay to get lost in the stacks.

"I am such a frakking Gizka." I muttered to myself, wandering aimlessly.

"My dear, you have never been something so simple." Helena's voice was startling in the quiet hold. I had grown so used to the creaking of the ship, and the swaying stacks, it always surprised me to see the world could be bigger than my home.

"Yeah right." I growled, "I can't even be polite."

"Peace child, you will find your place. It happens for all of us." She rubbed my shoulders consolingly, "Have you considered talking to Leena about it?"

I shook my head, "I can't think around her. It's like she just flips the switch from genius to Bantha poodoo."

The human hugged me, "It will get better."

"I highly doubt it." I heard a woman's voice, but before I could search for the source I had blacked out.

_I am just a man_

_Not superhuman_

_(I'm not superhuman)_

_Someone save me from the hate_

"Claudia, wake up." Helena shook my shoulder, jarring me from the black sleep that blanketed my mind.

"Whe-?" I rose stiffly from the floor.

"Good morning Ms. Donovan." The woman standing over me had a watered down version of HG's accent, her black hair reached past her shoulders and matched the dark hatred in her chocolate eyes. I glanced at her hip reflexively and saw, to my relief a simple pair of blasters. Okay, simple is a bad word, they were heavily modified, almost as much as my Saber.

Wait, my Saber. I clutched at the fabric around my hips, "Where's my lightsaber?"

"Safe. As you two will be so long as you tell me what I wish to know." The woman sneered, her grip on her blasters promising anguish to those who left her waiting too long, "So where is Walter Sykes? Or Darth Rishak if you like."

"Gone, gone far away with no memories of any of his misdeeds." Helena said with a touch of venom.

"Well you had better find out how to get him, or neither of you will be able to return to your precious ship of artifacts." She whipped around and stomped out of the pristine silver cell we were trapped in. Her eyes I could not forget, malicious hatred fueled by endless pain, I don't even know what color they were.

"What happened?" I hissed to Helena.

"We are trapped my dear girl in a cell with a barrier to nullify our connection to the force. We've been stripped of all our weapons, and I do mean all. Even my back-up stunners are gone. And it's all so she can find our Sith Lord for what purposes though, I cannot divine."

Fear hinted from the lines of her face, concern and pain creasing her forehead. I sat back on my heels, eyes wide with the shock. What had happened to the peaceful morning?

"What can we do? I mean, we don't actually know what the masters did with Sykes.. Do we?"

Helena's eyes were guarded, "Actually, that isn't quite true darling."

I rolled my eyes, "I thought we established that prying into Council records was a bad thing."

"Perhaps you did darling. But I never said anything of the sort."

"So we know where he is. That'll be fun. We need to find out what she wants him for... Think we can stall for time?"

Helena winced, "No, I really don't think so. She is quite adept with those blasters of hers."

I looked down at her waist and saw a dark slightly charred burn along her side. The skin was cauterized, one of the small wonders of laser weapons, but she needed medical attention, injuries like that needed to be taken care of quickly.

_I need a hero to save my life_

_I need a hero just in time_

_Save me just in time_

I pulled my sash off and wrapped it around HG's waist to cover up the wound and support her stomach. "I gotta figure this out."

I went over to the force field, and examining the purple shimmer, I decided it probably wasn't a tangible energy beam. My sleeve when pushed against the apparently stiff discoloration started to steam and smoke.

"Heat transfer, force suppression, purple.. Helena, this one of *our* holding beams." Helena is almost as tech oriented as I am, but she just looked confused at my conclusion.

"Come on, this whole place is designed to keep powerful things from connecting to the force. What better place to keep some Jedi? So.. She needs Sykes, for whatever reason, she needs us to get to him, and no one is going to find us. Not in the middle of home base covered with a small spattering of Force suppressive dust."

I pried open the control console, examining the wires closely before sticking my hands in to fiddle around with what seemed to be the same old conduits I had been patching since I became Artie's apprentice.

"HG, did you manage to catch that chick's name while I was napping on durasteel?"

"Charlotte. At least, that's what her minions called her."

"Well I'm going to need you to kick this chick's ass for me."

"Claudia!" He voice was chiding. I didn't care.

_Who's gonna fight for what's right_

_Who's gonna help us survive_

_We're in the fight of our lives_

_(And we're not ready to die)_

_I've got a hero_

_Livin' in me_

I shoved my unprotected hands into the console, swiftly stripping the wires of insulation and striking them together to short-circuit the field. Sparks and smoke shot out of the terminal, and my hands tightened on the pieces of metal as the powerful current messed with my nerve endings.

I felt a jab of metal through my skin and knew that was that. I passed out as lightning ripped through my arms.

My life is so sad, I really wished that it wouldn't flash through my mind as I died. That would suck so bad. All I really wanted to see was Leena, smiling at me the way Helena and Myka did when they thought no one was looking.

I wanted to hear her humming one of her little tunes while she cooked. I wanted to watch her lovely smile reach her eyes and pierce my soul again, there was no part of my life I wanted more than Leena, and that's why I did it. Because I may never have Leena, she may never be mine, but Helena has her Myka.

_I'm gonna fight for what's right_

_Today I'm speaking my mind_

_And if it kills me tonight_

_(I will be ready to die)_

I was disappointed that instead of bathing in warm memories of Leena, and family, and what should have been, Helena forced her way into my paradise. "Claudia, you are not going to die, you are going to stop being an idiot, and you are going to wake up, because you are quite heavy."

Helena was dragging me out of the crushed remains of our cell. Klaxons were screaming in my ear, and a deluge of goo covered the floor and both of us. I guess the fail-safe works.

My legs were twitching like crazy, and I couldn't open my hands. The current had paralyzed my hands, I probably wouldn't be able to use them right for a bit. Stupid, stupid, stupid, why did I do that? We could have just taken Charlotte out when she came back in. No, she had weapons. Shut up.

"W-w-wh-what h-h-h-happ-pened?" I stuttered, my lips and tongue disobeying my every order.

"You did, you wonderful little menace on society." Helena wheezed with a smile growing, now that I was responding. "You cut off the power to that little field. I will be having a chat with Arthur about how to fix that by the way."

I smiled, not really paying attention to Helena. My only thoughts were of Leena, I could see her smile again, make her smile a hundred different ways. See a look of love in her eyes. I am going to take down that Charlotte person, and then I am going to tell Leena how I feel.

_A hero's not afraid to give his life_

_A hero's gonna save me just in time_

My neutral mask slid back into place, and I stood on quivering limbs, my fists clenched for a different reason. I searched for Charlotte, reached for that spot of hate that was our brief captor. I felt a spot of guilt that I was leaving Helena alone and wounded, but it didn't matter.

I gathered the force behind me, pressing me forward as I sprinted head on to find Charlotte in one of the service corridors, twin blasters prepared, and an open shuttle behind her back.

"What do you want with Sykes?!" I asked, needing to know if this woman was going to be a threat to my family.

She let off three shots, sidling closer to the door. I had to duck and roll, slamming into a wall to avoid the spaced shots. She wasn't force sensitive, but it barely mattered with her tech. If I had my Saber this would be different, but I didn't. Almost with a will of their own, my fingers started ripping at the exposed wires, conduits, and tools scattered around the floor.

"I want him to give me what he frelling stole from me." She snarled, forcing me into an alcove with her well aimed shots. I could smell my singed hair.

"And what's that?" Maybe if I kept her talking I could finish.

"None of your business." She came out of her hiding place and shot me in the stomach, burning a hole through my center that burned, raged, screamed for relief.

_I need a hero_

_Who's gonna fight for what's right_

_Who's gonna help us survive_

"Claudia!" Leena's scream pierced through the pain momentarily, of course she found me, she always finds me.

I saw through a painful haze Leena picking up the small construct I had pulled together, and she lobbed it away. She lifted me up and cradled me. Charlotte stalked over, a pistol cradled in both hands, "Where is Darth Rishak?" She growled, pointing the gun at Leena's head.

_Who's gonna make 'em believe_

_I've got a hero_

_Livin' in me_

I gathered what strength I had left and flapped my hand, activating the tesla grenade. Charlotte convulsed, shooting wildly as she collapsed.

When her eyes closed, so too, did mine.

**PS.** I really did finish it on time, but the posting section of the site crashed. Sorry, here you go.


	5. The Call by Regina Spektor

**A/N:** Day #5 alright, I'm starting to get in the groove of things, today my muse is "The Call" by Regina Spektor, if you haven't heard it, I beg of you, please, it's quite the beautiful song.

Characters are Bering and Wells, This would be set at the end of the most recent episode, Instinct. 4x15 I believe.

Rating: **K**

_It started out as a feeling_

Helena's arms wrapped around me, pressing carefully against my shoulder blades. We couldn't see each other's faces, for which I am so grateful; In that second, that tiny moment, I couldn't help but feel that she was running away, and it broke my heart.

_Which then grew into a hope_

Helena pulled back first, I couldn't help wishing I would be able to hold her forever. Just a little longer? Please? We both rocked on our heels, and I saw in her eyes, a heartfelt wish that this would last, perhaps a few minutes, a few moments.

_Which then turned into a quiet thought_

She pulled open my door for me, always the courteous one. Tears threatened to break through, and if bright espresso eyes were any indication, then Helena was fighting a similar battle. I stepped into the car reluctantly, my foot pausing on the step before I could bring myself to put that barrier between us.

_Which then turned into a quiet word_

"Maybe just coffee next time." It was a weak joke, but I smiled. _Next time._ She said it, maybe she sees it too.

_And then that word grew louder and louder_

_'Til it was a battle cry_

_I'll come back when you call me_

_No need to say goodbye_

"Or save the world, let's see what happens." The tears were still there, the pain still prevalent, but I couldn't stop hoping that next time; Next time would be different. The door closed, putting a solid barrier between us, but I didn't need to be next to her. Not yet. _I'm here for you Helena._ I said silently, wishing for her to hear.

_Just because everything's changing_

_Doesn't mean it's never been this way before_

Just as I had left, so had Helena, to sort out what she needed. And when she is ready I will be waiting. Always for her.

_Now we're back to the beginning_

_It's just a feeling and no one knows yet_

_But just because they can't feel it too_

_Doesn't mean that you have to forget_

_Let your memories grow stronger and stronger_

_'Til they're before your eyes_

_You'll come back when they call you_

Remember Helena, find your truth, come home. Come home when we call you. I rested my cheek on the cool window, looking out to a future where she would come home. Looking to a future where she remembered what home means.


	6. Safe and Sound by Julia Sheer

**A/N:** Day#6 is here, almost half done with this awesome challenge. My muse is one of my favorites today, 'Safe and Sound' by Julia Sheer. please, don't settle for the Taylor Swift version, she's a lovely girl I'm sure, but this song requires a different touch.

This is a continuation of yesterday's story, about.. five months later? sure. five months.

Rating: K+

Characters: Bering and Wells, (Can you tell I like them?)

_I remember tears streaming down your face when _

_I said, I'd never let you go_

_When those shadows almost killed your light_

My boots crunched on the coarse gravel covering the parking lot, I look down to see that I'm wringing my hands again, it's getting to be a habit these past few days.

I walk stiffly to the door, the two stairs echo hollowly, matching my heart. I can't believe I'm doing this, how could I? After all the things I said. I ran away.

_But all that's dead and gone and passed away tonight_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down._

My chest constricted, cutting off any pretense of courage I could muster. I could turn around right now, no one is home. My hand stretched across the small gap to rap my knuckles lightly on the door.

Once. Twice. Nothing.

Myka tore open the door, embracing me in a tight hug. "You're home."

The words were simple, something I would never have used as an author when so many eloquent phrases could be utilized.

I could not prevent the sob from escaping as I buried my nose in her shoulder, eyes shut tight, focused on the press of her body on mine, the hum of her soothing words in my ears. I clung to her for dear life as all the pain, sorrow, confusion washed over me.

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

Myka tugged me into the house, shutting the door behind us. We stumbled to the couch, and I ended up on her lap, curled around her, my face hidden in the crook of her neck. Never once did both of her arms leave my waist.

We sat that way for a long time. Myka rubbing soft circles on my back, and pushing my hair out of my eyes while I cried wordlessly into her accepting shoulder.

When the tide was stemmed sufficiently, she pressed her cheek to my head, "Helena, did you find what you were looking for?"

Of course she knew how lost I had been. Could I hide anything from her? Did I ever want to? I let out a half-hearted laugh, "Not until I came back." I whispered through tears. The fear came back, tightening around my chest like a Boa trying to consume my words.

"Why did you come back?" Her fingers stuttered in their regular course. Even though her voice never quivered, I could feel it, her insecurity.

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling,_

_Everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold on to this lullaby_

_Even when music's gone_

I wiped the tears out of my eyes, cleared my throat once, and replied in a husky voice, "A combined effort of my two darlings."

Myka stiffened, surprising me into sitting up, though I remained on her lap. "Nate and Adelaide?" She asks tersely. The change surprised me into speaking what first came to mind.

"Of course not, Nate has nothing to do with me coming back. I came back for you." I bit my lip, a single finger tracing her jaw.

She closed her eyes, and took a calming breath through the nose, "Helena..."

I could hear the protests forming, the arguments, the rationalizations, judgements, predictions a hundred thoughts declaring it to be impossible, the same thoughts that had been plaguing me the entire drive home.

Home. Here in her arms. I am home. "No, Myka, I love you, I am not going anywhere else."

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

Myka's eyes lit with a soft glow, her lips spreading into an almost imperceptible smile. I cupped her cheek in my palm, letting out a small sigh at the sweet sensation of our skin touching. I brought my forehead down to rest against hers, and whispered, "This is our truth, this is where we belong my dear."

Her lips touched mine softly, communicating all the words she so desperately wanted to say, her tenderness engulfed me. We stayed in that moment for what seemed an eternity, and when our lips parted, nothing changed.

We still could see into the other's eyes, and read all the words, the stories, our futures.

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._


	7. Germs by Weird Al Yankovic

**A/N:**Day#7, wow this has really flown by. My muse today is 'Germs' by Weird Al, also minor MC Hammer references.

Kudos, highfives, and cookies to Al fans!

Rating: K+

Characters:The whole gang. B&W and Cleena implied

_Sometimes I really want to be alone_

_But that's one state I'm never in_

The BnB was tranquil, nothing broke the peaceful stillness except Leena's even breathing as she napped the hours away. She had cleaned yesterday, everything was in order, and dinner was coming from Pete's favorite chinese restaurant to console him. He'd been sulking all week about his impending doctor's appointment, and today was the dreaded meeting with the stoic doctor.

She had been enjoying the lack of chores when, at 7 o'clock, the others burst into the house, laughing, joking, and lugging enough food to feed a small army.

"Seriously? He gave you a lollipop?! What did you do? I never get lollipops!" Claudia exclaimed with a teasing grin.

"Maybe I'm just special." Pete stuck his tongue out at Claudia, breaking out of the funk he'd been in for so long.

"You're something all right." Myka teased over Helena's shoulder. The two were walking so close together that their hips were constantly rubbing together.

Leena giggled, and jumped up to set plates and silverware on the table. She knew Claudia and Pete would ignore the more conventional utensils to prove their prowess with chopsticks. Once a truce is drawn they would revert to the more comfortable, simpler forks and spoons to slurp up their szechuan pork, and mu-shu chicken.

Helena and Myka giggled the whole meal, feeding each other their favorites while Pete pouted over their true mastery of the little sticks that managed to dump food on his lap whenever he tried to do something like that.

The evening ended perfectly with everyone snuggled up on the couch and floor watching Godzilla, per Pete's request. Leena watched drowsily as Myka traced random patterns on Helena's leg, Artie played a relaxed game of tug-o-war with trailer, and Claudia had fallen asleep on Leena's leg. All in all, She thought not even Norman Rockwell had painted a homier setting.

_Now if I ever dare to go to sleep_

_That's when they start their sneak attack_

_In the morning I wake up in utter horror_

Pete's eyes opened first but instead of going back to sleep, as was his modus operandi, instead he leapt to his feet and raced up the stairs to the bathroom. His feet crashing through the house woke everyone up.

"Dude is he okay?" Claudia slurred, stretching out on Leena's lap.

"I hope he is sick as a dog." Helena grumbles, rubbing the place where his foot collided with her skull.

"I don't think I've seen Pete run that fast since I made that trifle a few months ago." Leena giggled.

"Mmm, I remember that. You should make one of those again." Claud sighed, melting back against Leena's arms.

"Well maybe I would if you got off of me." Leena teased playfully, "I should really be getting breakfast ready."

"Ugh, if you say so." Claudia grumbled, scooting aside for her girl.

Helena and Myka remained on the couch, gazing into each other's eyes in a way that made Claud and Artie feel like they were intruding on something precious. Their quick removal went unnoticed by the lovestruck pair.

Leena however welcomed the company, making Arthur man the griddle, while Claudia was handed a whisk for making batter.

It came as a surprise to everyone when Pete came down the stairs a delicate shade of pink. His arms, and face all scrubbed practically raw, what parts were visible anyway. His arms were drawn tight to his chest, and despite the warm Dakota summer brewing outside, he had on a long sleeve shirt, and sweats tucked into his socks.

"Uh, Pete-man? You feeling chilly over there?"

_I rub and scrub until my flesh is raw and bleeding_

_I can't even see 'em, but I know they're up to something_

_Hey, don't touch that - you don't know where it's been_

He started to rub his already tender arms, "They're all over me." He shuddered. Fists clenching and unclenching. Leena was concerned about him, his aura was off from it's normal balance.

"Dude what is? You looked like you scrubbed to the bone in boiling water." Claudia gestured at him with her whisk, flinging little bits of batter on the counter.

Pete flinched, staring at the batter like it was radioactive goop.

"Pete?" Leena reached over to touch his arm. He yelped, jumping back into a wall. A short shriek burst forth from his lips and he ran back upstairs.

"Did Pete.. PETE seriously just scream?" Claudia dissolved into helpless giggles.

"I'm going to go check on him." Leena said with a small frown, heading up the stairs.

"Do you think I pissed her off for laughing at the Petester?" Claudia asked Artie with concern. He harumphed his lack of knowledge and they returned to cooking up breakfast.

Helena came stumbling into the kitchen with a bright eyed Myka holding onto her waist. The first dozen pancakes were piping hot, the pair claimed their plates, and split off for tea and coffee. "So where's Pete? Normally he gets the first four batches." Myka asked.

"Pete, is up taking his third shower this morning." Leena said uncomfortably, "Artie, I think there's something really wrong with him. He came out of his second shower in another set of fresh clothes. He bumped into me, and raced back into the shower muttering something about not being able to get 'them' off of him. He's radiating terror."

"Can't we go just one day.. One day! With you all getting hit by an artifact?" Artie mutters, his voice growing louder until he was yelling. "Where would he even have come in contact with one? The Warehouse would have warned us.."

"The Doctor!" Helena and Claudia both shouted at the same time, pointing to each other before passing out high-fives.

HG and Claud were sent after the artifact while Myka tried to convince Pete to put some clothes on, and come eat. He wasn't buying it, if anything, her presence nearby only added to his hysteria, something about her breathing germs into the air.

_What do they want from me_

_What'll they do to me_

_There's no escape for me_

Pete grew more and more anxious. Finally he stormed out of the bathroom with a panicked look on his face that sent Leena running outside to escape the house, and he rushed into his room, slamming the door. The lock engaged with a click.

"Peeeteeee? Pete are you okay?" Myka rapped lightly with her knuckles. She had done that so much today, she was sure to be developing bruises. She was almost as freaked out by his obsessive behaviour as Leena. This was so not like her funny, slob, friend Pete.

So when HG came inside declaring her triumph Myka tripped and stumbled down the stairs, catching HG's hands to hold herself upright, "Where is it?"

"Careful darling, don't want to fall. It's Louis Pastuer's chemistry set. Claudia has it in the car, we didn't have a bucket with us." Helena yelled out the last bit at Myka's hastily retreating back, as she had started out the door when Helena told her where it was.

Helena went upstairs to Pete's room, worried by Myka's behavior. She came up in time to hear a gentle whoosh, and Pete's trance-like mumble, "I'm gonna show'em who's boss. I'm gonna get even."

"Peter, what are you getting even with?" She asked with an edge of fear marring her usual arrogance. When he didn't answer, but the whoosh was replaced with a crackle, she jiggled the door knob, and kicked in the wooden frame to break the lock.

The scene that greeted her eyes was both shocking, and uncomfortable. Pete was wearing nothing but a poorly wrapped towel that had sagged on his waist quite low, and his clothes were currently aflame on his bed. The crackle was the metal threads in the comforter snapping under the strain.

"Peter! Get out now!" Helena threw her jacket on the quickly growing flames, tamping them out as best she could, resulting in spreading little bits onto the carpet and pillows. She took her slightly charred jacket, and Pete's arm, hauling the screaming man out of his room. He struggled, and fought wildly all the way downstairs, wordless with terror over the skin contact.

"Any day now Myka!" Helena called outside.

The change was dramatic, Peter stopped squealing, he still jerked his arm out of her grip, but instead of running he asked, "What the heck happened? How'd I get here? Oh my God, what happened to my pants?!" He grasped at the swiftly slipping towel.

"Arthur! Please tell me you have some fire retardant somewhere!"

The fire was put out, and no sooner than Pete had on his pants, we sat down to eat our chilled breakfast... Well everyone but Pete. He gave them one look and turned a delightful shade of green, which combined with the completely raw skin of his face left him with a mottled visage that would leave any makeup artist proud.


	8. Hear You Me by Jimmy Eats World

**A/N: **Day #8 My muse is 'Hear You Me' by Jimmy Eat World.

This is a pure bit of depression over what happened. No one talks about it, Fanfics ignore it. I don't want to, I want to embrace the melancholy truth, and hurt a little bit. I think too often we shy away from the pain as being bad, but right now, I want to bask in the bittersweet moments.

To all who miss family, and friends for any reason. Whether separation by distance, time, or death they remain ours to love always

I do apologize, but this is one I would suggest listening to the song *while* you read..

Characters: Claudia Donovan

Rating: **K**

"Okay, I have one last song for you tonight guys, thanks for bearing with me. This is for a dear friend of mine, who um," Claudia's voice caught, "She would have loved this song."

To everyone else it looked like she was re-tuning her guitar quickly, but Myka and Pete knew she was choking back tears.

The drums started out a light tapping on the cymbals, followed by gentle strumming of the guitar,

"There's no one in town I know

You gave us some place to go.

I never said thank you for that.

I thought I might get one more chance."

Her soft voice let the lullaby drift sadly through the suddenly silent room, and pictures of her first meeting with Leena gave her pause for a moment.

"_My name is Leena honey, are you okay? Do you need anything?"_

_Leena's face had been surrounded by the soft halo of frizzy hair lit up by morning sun filtering through the drapes. It was the most beautiful thing Claudia had ever seen, and even in her weakened state after the compass debacle, she couldn't help but admire this beautiful creature watching over her like an angel._

"What would you think of me now,

so lucky, so strong, so proud?

I never said thank you for that,

now I'll never have a chance."

"_You can really do that?" Leena was disbelieving, "I thought the Secret service was, well.. Secret."_

_Claudia snorted, "Only to luddites. To queens of awesome, it's an open book."_

_Leena raised an eyebrow, "Well then Ms. Queen of Awesome, you think you could teach me how to do that?"_

_Claudia had immediately jumped out of the seat to make room for Leena, teaching her how to hack right in the middle of searching through Dickinson's personal files. Her chin rested on Leena's shoulder, and they spent many a day afterward trading jokes over a hacking program._

May angels lead you in.

Hear you me my friends.

On sleepless roads the sleepless go.

May angels lead you in.

And if you were with me tonight,

I'd sing to you just one more time.

A song for a heart so big,

god wouldn't let it live.

May angels lead you in.

Hear you me my friends.

On sleepless roads the sleepless go.

Claudia finished with tears in her bright eyes, she left her things on stage for her friends to take care of, and raced outside to her car. Diving into the seat, and slamming the door shut, she practically flew back to the BnB.

Rain shuddered across the garden, fitting Claudia's mood perfectly. Her shoes squelched in dissolving mud as she strode to her destination straight backed. The small piece of granite stood firm and steady in the torrent, supporting the sobbing woman just as Leena had in life.

_Pete stood dumbstruck, watching Myka hold something close to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. My shoes squeaked on the floor, Artie always whined about that._

_At first I didn't understand, I didn't want to._

_Then Myka looked up at me, I saw her then, Leena's face frozen in shock and hurt for eternity. A scream echoed in deaf ears, and my knees buckled, sending me to the concrete floor. I scrabbled to her, I needed to hold her, plead with her._

"_Please, Leena, come back. Leena, you're okay, Leena.. Leena we need you."_

_I rocked her in my arms, pressing my cheek to hers,_

"_Leena, you can't go. I love you, please don't leave. Leena."_

_I clung to her desperately, nothing could have made me move._

_Nothing but her._

_I knew she wouldn't want it. _

_She would haunt me for eternity if I let myself die with her, no matter how much I missed her._

So here I sit, sobbing over someone whose love I always felt, whose friendship was mine from the start.

Sometimes I wish I could join her.

But today? Today I just know that the angels let her in.


	9. Time-Bomb by All Time Low

**A/N:** Day #9 It's getting harder and harder to top my previous stories with only a day of preparation. My muse today is Time Bomb by All Time Low.

Also I have noticed that FF has been deleting fics because of material they have decided is wrong, or illegal. I won't hate them if they delete these songfics, because they really are making use of someone else's work, but I always make sure to credit the real authors in my notes. Please, let's all have a bit of consideration for the sources of these works, and credit them as is only professional and proper.

Rating: **K+**

Characters: Claudia & Leena

_From the get-go I knew this was hard to hold_

_Like a crash the whole thing spun out of control_

We hugged each other tightly, hiding inside the cabinets under the biology desks. I quivered each time I heard the distinctive thump of a combat boot outside our hiding place. Small hands pushed back my hair, stroking my head. She is so brave. I am so lucky we were sitting together when it happened.

Claudia and I had been putting our heads together over some silly art project, we had been going to do a modern sculpture using computer parts that Claud always had lying around. That girl lives on technology. I'm amazed she's only two grades ahead. I was sure when the eight year old entered my classroom, that she would say she was lost, but it turns out she's a bona-fide genius.

Nothing was going wrong, the room filled with whispers as we all jealously guarded our projects. These team things would be worth a third of our grade, and they had to be totally original. So no one noticed the big man standing just inside the door until shots rang out through the echo-y halls.

Everyone flinched, some people throwing hands above their heads, others shrieking in fear. Claudia had grabbed my head and shoved us both to the ground immediately. We ducked under our desk, my lips trembled, but Claud was so calm, so sure, her hand rubbing my back gently.

_Oh, on a wire, we were dancing_

_Two kids no consequences_

_Pull the trigger, without thinking_

_There's only one way down this road_

She pulled me out of the tiny art room while the beefy guy with a gun was pacing around on the other side of the room. We almost ran into another one when we exited, our little heads poking out the door thankfully didn't draw his attention. We slipped out and into the Biology lab on the other side of the hall before the door clicked loudly shut.

Hiding in here was nerve wracking. I shuddered when the door closed again, my heart pounded in my ears, and shudders ran down my back. "Claudia Alice Donovan, You better have a reason for doing that to me." I informed her in a voice too weak and trembly to be called stern.

"Leena, didn't you see that guy's pocket? He had a short-wave transmitter.

"So?" I had no idea what that meant.

"Dude, no walkie-talkies, kick butt army dudes take over a school with guns? They are not here to give out candy. That transmitter goes to something big, and I want to know what it is." Claudia was serious. She really wanted to go after this thing.

My lips trembled again, butterflies swinging up a maelstrom in my stomach, I whispered, "Okay."

_It was like a time bomb set into motion_

_We knew that we were destined to explode_

Yesterday I would have sworn to you that the only way to get around our elementary school was through the basement, or the halls. Today, Claudia proved me wrong. Her slight body came in handy when it came to navigating the cramped space above the drop ceiling. Support beams went everywhere giving us places to walk, but to either side was flimsy styrofoam leading to a ten foot drop, perhaps into the arms of an angry man with a gun; I took my time, stepping carefully.

Claudia chafed at my pace, "Come on!" She hissed, "Keep moving." She tugged my arm impatiently, and I stumbled with a loud clatter. I flushed a bright red with embarrassment that I was so clumsy, and then I went pale.

"What was that?!" A loud male voice called out.

"Just one of the others. God, get a grip." A second replied with boredom, "And point that gun elsewhere. I'd hate for this shit to blow up before we have a chance to vacate the area."

'Blow up?' Claudia mouths at me. She looks around frantically, and picking up a wrench, she lugs it at a pipe a good twenty feet away. The deafening clank-crash echoed throughout the building. The thump of boots as someone jumped followed almost immediately. "Get your ass up!" Both pairs of feet raced away, and I sighed in relief that they hadn't thought to look up.

I stared in horror as Claudia pulled up the styrofoam ceiling, and levered herself down to drop into the room. She landed with a soft smack, crouching on her knees to look around.

"What are you doing?!" I hissed, "Are you trying to get killed?"

_And if I have to pull you out of the wreckage_

_You know I'm never gonna let you go_

_We're like a time bomb_

_Gonna lose it, let's defuse it_

"Come on Leena." She waved me down, "I'll catch you."

I rolled my eyes at the image of the slight pixie catching me who was two years older, two inches taller, and better filled out then most ten year olds. My arms wobbled a lot, and I almost hit a table on the way down, but I managed the jump much more easily than I thought possible.

The little mischief maker took my hand and strode towards a kettle drum, leaving no room for me to protest. "Oh look at this thing." She gasped, staring at what looked to be one of those silly bomb things they always had in the movies. I didn't watch those much as they made me uncomfortable.

"W-what is it Claudi?"

"Don't you know a bomb when you see one?" The eight year old asked me, rolling her eyes like she did this every day.

"Shouldn't we move away then?" I asked, not waiting for permission.

"Not if we're going to defuse it." Claud's voice was serious. I gaped at her.

_Well there's no way out of this_

_So let's stay in_

_Every storm that comes,_

_Also comes to an end._

_We're like a time bomb_

_Gonna lose it, let's defuse it_

_Baby, we're like a time bomb_

_But I need it_

_Wouldn't have it any other way_

**PS. **Hey hey, not bad for two hours work? I know *hangs head* this coulda been way better, but the clock hit midnight.


	10. You Can't Take Me by Bryan Adams

**A/N:** Day#10 is upon me, and I find it has snuck up once again. My muse is "You Can't Take Me" by Bryan Adams.

Rating: **K+**

Characters: Claudia Donovan, Steve Jinks

_You can't take me_

_I'm free_

"No, no, NO!" I screamed again, the air ripping through my sore throat. Hands, so many faceless hands, held me back, kept me down. Strapped me back onto the gurney. I thrashed, screaming to be sent back, taken back to that place. Joy, wonder, happiness, where everything happened right. Where I had a family.

Fire shot through my veins followed by lead. My limbs went dead and darkness swallowed the hands, the gurney, me. Terror faded into pure black, and I didn't know which was worse.

The next time I woke up, there were no dreams torn from my grasp, no rapturous plane filled with my greatest hopes and wishes. The only thing left to me was leather ties holding me down, and the furniture, pale and faded like my skin.

Tears streaked down my face. Please take me back, back to the warehouse, to Myka, Artie, Pete, Joshua, and Leena.. Send me back, I don't want to wake up. Not here. This stupid hospital. A place of misery.

I layed back on the squashed pillows, the only soft thing in this hard, grey box they called a room. A cell is more like. It wasn't long before the nurses came back on their rounds. When they say I was coherent, they removed my restraints. They didn't really care if I was a danger to other inmates.

Alright, it's not actually a prison, but they all look so lost, even more lost than I am.. They're prisoners here whether they have to wear orange or not. Anyway, they let me up, and I got the frell out of there. The rec room wasn't more than a few chairs and cheap tables, but it was marginally better than a dingy cell.

Steve was there again. He's always there, same table, same chair. Meditating is what he calls it. I call it sucking up to the orderlies. He never has episodes, doesn't act up, he also doesn't take his meds, but that's cus he really doesn't belong here. Jinksy is my only friend here in wacko-world.

"Hey Claud, I didn't see you for a while, more of those dreams?"

_I'm on my way and I don't feel right_

_I gotta get me back_

_I can't be beat and that's a fact_

_It's okay_

_I'll find a way_

_You ain't gonna take me down no way_

"I did." I plopped into a chair across from him, "And I'm going to get out of here."

"Claudia.." He sighs, rubbing his face, "It's not real, that's why we're here."

"I don't care Jinksy. I have to see it for myself. I need to know if this is all in my head."

"How. How are you going to do it then? O great genius."

Frag it all. He really had to ask the one question I didn't know. Capital of Florida, how to defrag a computer, even all the weird computer abbreviations. I could answer those ones, but not this simple question. Simple ones are always the hardest.. How *am* I going to do it?

"Well doubting Thomas, first I am going to behave, let them relax, and then I am going to sneak out."

"Just like that?" He raised an eyebrow at me, always the disbelieving one.

"Nope, I'll need this too." I snatched the tv remote and stowed it in my baggy jacket. "Now it'll be a piece of cake. You coming with me?"

He looked shocked, "You really think you can do this." The reason he was in here was cus he could tell when people were lying, and while he was almost infallible, it freaked out his family, so they sent him here. I can't blame them for being malicious because most don't even know how bad it is in here. Still, sometimes I wish I could give them a piece of my mind.

"Well Steve? I'm not staying in this frakking Dalek camp any longer than I have to." I hid my desperate wish for him to come along, even now I had some doubts as to the existence of the warehouse. If I was wrong? Well. If I was wrong and Jinksy was there, I would be fine.

"You know I'd come even if I didn't think you had a chance." He said seriously.

_Don't judge a thing until you know what's inside it_

_Don't push me_

_I'll fight it_

_Never gonna give in_

_never gonna give it up, no_

They never checked my pockets anymore. The orderlies assumed I was too doped up, or too crazy to take anything from the rec room. The moment I got into my room I started shucking off the plastic covering on the remote I had pocketed. I couldn't do much with the simple tool, but thankfully all the surveillance was crap. I didn't really need to do much.

That night I was on my best behavior so they didn't give me the morphine. I hated morphine. The dead feeling it gave me, shutting me down, but leaving me awake. I shivered in my faded jumpsuit and headed out the door. Really the security in the halls was horrible, they just assumed we would be caught by the nurses or the cams. And My little remote worked for that. I turned it into a simple wireless keyboard, turning off all the cameras for the building at once.

The pandemonium would have had me cackling at any other time. I loved watching them scramble after all their malfunctioning equipment. Tonight however, I was going to grab Jinksy and get out, no time for stopping to mock the so called 'orderlies'.

His room was two halls over, and one floor down in the 'practically normal' ward. Mine was the 'Totally Frakking Insane, but Functional" ward. My delusions didn't hurt anybody except right when I woke up. The pain of coming back from that place to end up here was terrible. Like having my heart torn out and shoved somewhere random. I still lived, but it hurt, and it felt so wrong.

I slipped into his room and shook his shoulder, "Jinksy, come on, we gotta go dude."

He was still asleep. That's weird, he's a really light sleeper, causes issues with all the screaming. He shoulda jumped when I tugged his shoulder. "Dude, get up!" I rolled him over and groaned, "Frak frak frak!" They'd made him take his sleeping pills again.

_Why did it all go wrong?_

_I wanna know what's going on_

_And what's this holding me?_

_I'm not where I'm supposed to be_

_I gotta fight another fight_

_I gotta fight with all my might_

_I'm getting out, so check it out_

I sprinted out of his room and raced for the supply closet, knowing those luddites would eventually figure out how to reboot a computer. "You are not keeping Steve." I growled at the fritzing cameras, before ripping the small door open. I frantically searched for what I needed until my eyes settled on one. I grabbed it and high-tailed it back to Steve's room.

I flipped open the flimsy wheel chair and put books around the wheels to keep it from moving. I didn't want to drop Steve on the floor. I hauled him from his bed onto the chair, it was a little awkward, and his head flopped in a way that couldn't be comfortable, but he was in, and I was running.

I took tight corners at a full run. I wasted so much time looking for that wheelchair. I had only a few seconds before someone fixed the cameras. If I got out before they came back online, I would have hours before they found out I was gone. Please, please. I skittered, sliding around in my slippers. Stupid things, I kicked them off.

The linoleum stuck to my feet so well it's like the building was trying to keep me, but the extra grip let me run faster. Those doors were so close, waiting for me and Steve, beckoning for us to go home. I knew, I just knew, we could find the warehouse. Where I belonged.

The slow moving auto doors slid open painstakingly, my frenzied mind begging for the to move with some alacrity. Finally. Outside. Home; It was a long way off, but I could feel them wrapping their arms tight around me, pulling me into the family I craved. No more shock treatment, no more nurses, white coats, or drugs.

_You can't take me_

_I'm free _


	11. Little Red Riding Hood by Laura Gibson

**A/N: **Day #11 I am really enjoying this, and will be sad when it's done. Please, if you want to request something, tell me in a review or PM me. My muse for today is "Little Red Riding Hood" by Laura Gibson.

Rating: **T**

Characters: Bering and Wells

_Hey there Little Red Riding Hood_

_You sure are looking good_

_You're everything a big bad wolf could want_

I peered out of the corner of my eye at the woman, her hair pulled up tight, mouth a grim line of determination, a powersuit cut just so around those soft curves. She was a wonder to behold, whereas her partner.. Well let's just say he would be better suited to my own time than he would think.

Cocksure, predictable, a small paunch showing through his wrinkled button down. I admit he has the strong jaw I admire in a man, but his partner showed off hers better. He strutted through the room belting out his poorly considered postulations at the actor dressed as my brother while the brunette beauty beside him hung her head in shame to admit their acquaintance.

The male species had certainly gone downhill from my last observations. Even dear Woolley would have cringed at the show. How this.. Obnoxious terror became an agent of the warehouse I did not wish to discover. It was with great pleasure that I found myself, along with many others ushered out of my house by the lovely woman. 'Myka' the buffoon had whined. Mmm, what a name, Myka. I placed my journal down on the desk when her attentive eyes were drawn to the bombastic fellow whose mustache had been ripped off.

My excuse easily got me back in the door. Considering it was the male agent who received me, I doubt I even needed an excuse. The general location of his gaze on the buttons I had left undone on my shirt were indicative of that fact. Let alone his poor attempts at humor, which involved either insulting himself, his nation, or mine. Kissing him was pure blasphemy, I did my best to pretend it was his partner.

It was a relief to hear Myka, the word almost rolled off my tongue, to hear her coming down the stairs. Her new information about me had come a little too late, as now I held the buffoon against me, his tesla in my right hand, his life, in my left.

Ahh, the sight of her, on anyone else that shade of pink might be called garish, but it brought out the hazel in her eyes, and the lush chocolate tones of her hair. The look on her face was calculating and concerned. It took great effort to keep my eyes off the fabric pulling against her stomach.

I informed her of my time at the warehouse in explanation of my knowledge about the Tesla. I really did enjoy the look of shock in her eyes. Then she paused, speaking slowly, "Ransacking your home, well that has a familiar ring tone." Her hand smoothed across her waist.

"What does that mean?" I tightened my hold on the buffoon, trying to understand her mangling of the familiar saying.

"Just an american thing." He shrugged, "That means, gotcha."

I did not understand his confidence, the shrewd smile growing on Myka's face. Then the strangest thing happened. Someone started singing, a raspy voice, and something about cookies. I looked for the source of the noise and he took advantage of my distraction. I don't know how they did it, but he grabbed my arm, twisting me to a wrestling crouch.

"Come quietly please, I would hate to hit an old lady." He said, ripping the Tesla from my grasp. I smirked and applied a roundhouse to his face, looking up to see Myka holding a gun to my face.

"I however have no such compunction." She informed me tersely, her eyes glowing with the heat of the moment. That beautiful mouth held me entranced.

I took a deep breath, and moved my gaze to the ceiling so she would not distract me from my purpose. My hands came up beside my head in the universal sign of surrender.

_What big eyes you have_

_The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad_

It was Myka who attached the cuffs to my hands, forcing me down into one of my own chairs, well a cheap reproduction of one. Oh if only it were under different circumstances, I would happily let her cuff me again and again. The cut of her suit pants were quite distracting, and I wouldn't have removed my eyes from her shapely behind if I had wanted to.

Her eyes locked on mine, calculating again, but behind that, deeper, was a stirring of emotion. I could feel it, from the shivers down my back, and the slight tremble of my hands on the cuffs.

Pete, the man started whining about my rude behavior. I do not understand how he could possible be so naive as to believe that an entire nation, one that had conquered most of the world at one point or another to be uniformly polite.

"Why are you protecting MacPherson? We know him, and trust us, he will turn on you." Myka asked, her eyes flicked down, perhaps to my shirt which was quite revealing from her position, and mine with my arms pulled behind me.

I smirked, "Don't they all? Men, neanderthals." So arrogant and overbearing, so positive that their way was the best way.

"Wow, you really held on to a lot of anger while you were unconscious for all those years." The buffoon was waving his gun around like it actually gave him some power over the situation, when really, he wasn't involved at all.

"Unconscious no. Just immobile." I replied ruefully. Why am I bothering to tell this to him? Pathetic man. I almost wish I had been unconscious, perhaps it would have given me a chance to heal.

"Wait you aren't saying.. You were awake that whole time?" He stared at me like I hadn't just explained to him what was going on. Perhaps that thick skull had been broken by my boot. They were quite a bit heavier with the magnets fit in.

"We didn't know." Myka explained, her voice softened into an almost tender uttering. It was a music that played over my ears. Her eyes fixed upon the floor as she fit the pieces together. A brilliant mind, excellent manners, and a body to make the very titans tremble with desire, how could I resist giving her what she thought she wanted?

I looked down and away, thinking about the festering rage that had boiled through a heart of bronze. I had once thought of myself as a passionate person, but now, now I had passion for only one thing. A goal which would have made both of the very young people in front of me quite uncomfortable. "It gives a girl some time to think."

"You either tell us what, and where it is, or you can watch us pull this place apart." The man was waving his gun around again, attempting to threaten me I believe. His boyish features did nothing but negate his efforts.

Myka raised her eyebrows, nodding in affirmation of his threat. I felt somehow that she meant it, while he had just given me cause to roll my eyes. Our easy wordless communication put a smile on my face, and finally I told them how to access my hidden chamber.

Peter seemed to understand my simple instructions, but I wouldn't have noticed. I was too busy watching the teasing flutter of her shirt giving me slight glimpses of what sweet flesh lie hidden beneath. It was far more enticing than the obvious displays of cleavage I had seen stalking around the city in shoes so high as to make easy poniards in a pinch.

They activated both my trap for them, and the vault for me. I had to restrain my smirk at the ease of tricking them. Poor Myka was going to be so terribly bothered by the simplicity of my deception. Her posture and clothing carried the signs of someone who judged themselves far too harshly.

"Put the candle back." Pete said, throwing his voice to sound like some kind of goblin. I did not understand why he chuckled, and neither it seemed, did Myka. "Oh nevermind, just.. Get the artifact." He waved his gun once more, and I bristled at him ordering the woman who was obviously his superior to do anything.

Myka however had no issues with his orders and she entered my vault, ignoring the trinkets I had placed to distract petty thieves, she came out with my Vest. She really was brilliant, I hadn't realized just how perceptive she would be. The vest was one of many impressive things within the chamber, but she picked it out immediately. "What, is this?"

I smiled proudly, feeling myself settle back into my role as villainous associate. "A family heirloom."

He didn't believe me at all, and it showed. "Right. Why did Macpherson want it?"

"I have no idea." I lied poorly. They were getting closer. I was starting to thrill to the game.

"Pete, th-the wiring on the vest matches the wiring on the panel." Myka pointed out. I would have clapped if I didn't need them to think the cuffs still held me.

Peter repeated her sentence, trying I believe to look smart. It didn't work, but I needed them to flip the switch for this to work so I replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"And of course we believe you." Myka was being sarcastic, her voice rippling through me like the warmth of a fireplace. Thankfully I needn't reply. "Would you like to do the honors?" She gestured at Pete.

"Gladly." He replied, yanking on the delicate control I had wired so many years ago.

The joy rushing through me at the realization that I had lost none of my skill, even though the years had raced on, I had not tarnished. I stood up, lifting my eyes gloatingly towards the sight of Myka glued to the ceiling, my cuffs dangling off my fingers. "It's a good things these haven't changed much."

"Why aren't you affected?" Myka exclaimed in bewilderment.

I chuckled, lifting the core of my short-term plans from the floor, and onto my shoulders. "Magnetic boots, special order." I smirked.

"I guess that explains why my head still hurts. Guess we know why they bronzed you." That deplorable beast taunted me, stabbing at pains I had thought dulled over the decades. He knew nothing, *nothing* of my pain, and I wished to make him suffer for presuming to know anything about my life, or my motivations.

"Don't speculate about what you don't understand." I snapped.

"Ohh, there's that anger again. I'm liking the iron vest, it matches your eyes." He was baiting me again, but these barbs felt more like the tiny pricks of spiteful ladies who thought insulting my taste in clothing to be the greatest insult.

"Now who's angry?" I taunted, sauntering out before I did something rash. Like killing him and ravishing his partner.

_What full lips you have_

_They're sure to lure someone bad_

_So until you get to grandma's place_

_I think you ought to walk with me and be safe_

Sitting on a bench beside the Thames, I considered how things had gone. In an hour I was to be meeting James to discuss our plans, and then we would be leaving for the Americas early tomorrow morning. How many ways this coin could turn. I needed to meet with him to retrieve the antimatter, and the password for the Escher Vault would be tricky. He had compared it to crossword puzzles, something which I excelled at in Victorian times. I had won contests to both create, and solve them.

Perhaps.. Just perhaps, I could see those eyes again, those bright green eyes, and earn the trust of the warehouse at the same time. I smiled to myself and ambled down the river to our rendezvous point.

My meeting with James went as planned, I gained the antimatter under the excuse of needing to repurpose it to my vest, and he refused to tell me the password, rightfully concerned about me knowing too much should I be caught.

I checked in with the mortuary taking care of my darling Christina's grave, ensuring nothing had changed, set up a meeting with a few young students at the university for a month after they graduated in June, barely two months from now, and then I did some checking around, got to know the so-called yellow pages.

Once I found the hotel my favorite Warehouse agent was residing in, I took it upon myself to get changed into something more comfortable before checking in to welcome her, after all, one must always be a good hostess to new arrivals in a familiar city.

_I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on_

_Until I'm sure that you've been shown_

_That I can be trusted walking with you alone_

By the time all my affairs were in order it was early evening. I rode up the elevator to the fourth floor of Myka's hotel. I must say the innovations of design made me far more confident in the structural safety of the device than I had been previously inclined.

I knocked on her door, room 509. I stood outside the view of the small peephole so I could see her reaction when she saw me face to face. I heard the sound of her sensible shoes tapping on the floor. She pulled the door open quickly, an annoyed expression on her face which quickly morphed into something far more animal, instinctive. Her eyes traveled up from my legs, across my tight fitting dress which ended mid-thigh and across my ample cleavage.

I admit I was quite gratified by the attention, I cleared my throat, "My eyes are up here darling." I informed her with a smirk.

Myka blushed, then she pulled herself back on track, "What are you doing here Wells?"

"Helena please darling." I wanted to hear my name roll off her tongue.

"Helena than." She folded her arms, having no idea the effect her reluctant words had on the rhythms of my heart.

"I thought we could have a little chat, my dear Myka." I ran my fingers up her smooth arms.

Myka's skin rippled under my fingers, "Chat about what Helena?" She was trying to be forceful, but I could hear the tremor.

I took a step into her room, kicking the door shut behind me, my eyes burning for her body. "Nothing that should happen in the hall darling." I was going off track, my body ached to touch her, but I needed to focus, I needed to finish this business now.

Myka backed up, but not nearly enough, I could feel the heat from her flushed body. "Why are you here Helena?" She whispered.

"I'm here to discuss the possibilities of us working together. As you said, James would turn on me eventually, so why not turn him in first. I give you James, you give me asylum at the Warehouse."

Myka looked dubious, "What do you have to gain from this?"

Well I couldn't exactly tell her my real purposes. "Perhaps I miss being able to move, perhaps I miss the Warehouse.." I smirked, "Perhaps I want a chance to spend more time with you darling."

Her eyes widened at the latter, "Uh, what?"

Now that she had heard my plan, I could take a moment for myself. I put a finger on her chest, gently guiding her back against the wall, my feet carrying me closer. I pressed my chest up against her, my eyes fluttering slightly at the sensation so long denied me.

The same finger moved up her neck to her cheek, cupping it gently. I leaned forward seeing the trepidation in her eyes, and pressed my lips to hers. The gentle movements as she started to kiss back sent a thrill through me. Her hands came up to my waist gripping me closer. I felt down Myka's lush curves through her thin shirt, a soft whimper escaped her lips and I knew that she felt the same lust, the same drive and need that I felt.

She broke first, pulling back to pant heavily. I leaned into her, my lips pressing down her neck as small gasps and mews left her beautiful mouth.

"So darling, what about my proposition."

_What a big heart I have-the better to love you with_

_Little Red Riding Hood_

_Even bad wolves can be good_

_I'll try to be satisfied just to walk close by your side_

_Maybe you'll see things my way before we get to grandma's place_


	12. Sound The Bugle by Bryan Adams

**A/N:** Day# 12 My muse today would be "Sound The Bugle" again, by Bryan Adams AU/Cowboys

Rating: **K**

Characters: Claudia, Leena, Helena

_Sound the bugle now _

_play it just for me_

Sheriff Donovan clomped into the dusty shack, her steps echoing through the floorboards while she hung up her spurs. Her limp was pronounced, and Steve her deputy came in behind her with their prisoner in tow. "You really should have been more careful Claudia." Steve admonished her, locking up the outlaw.

"Well I wouldn't've had to be careful if miss priss over there hadn't started up a hubbub." She drawled, tipping her hat over her eyes, "How's yer arm Wells? Hurtin much?" She propped her feet up on the desk set aside for the sheriff, ignoring the bloody bandage on her leg.

"I've had worse, though I'd be pleased as punch if you'd let me at some medical supplies." She replied amiably, sitting on her wooden cot like she had been raised in a jail. Considering her past, Caudia occasionally wondered if she had been raised by outlaws. That woman terrorized everyone this side of the Mississippi.

"Ye wouldn't have that graze on yer arm if ye hadn't started baiting Myka. She don' play around with that shotgun of hers." Claud didn't really seem concerned about Wells' aches and pains, if anything, she seemed pretty proud of herself.

_Now I can't go on _

_I can't even start_

_I've got nothing left_

_just an empty heart_

"So what now madam Sheriff?" Wells ignored the insufferable woman's scoldings.

"Now we wait, wait fer Artie and the Regents to take you off my hands, and outta my town."

"Indeed." Well seemed to sink into the hard wood cot, her shoulders sagged.

Steve didn't mention it, and Claudia couldn't see to tease her for it, but Helena's posture lost it's pizazz. The exhaustion that dogged the steps of any honest cowboy made it's appearance on her features, and any one of her posse would have cried to see the look of defeat.

Even heartless James Macpherson felt the pain in his chest as he looked back at the dingy boomtown that had claimed his boss. She had told them to get out, told them that this was her last heist. So that's what they did, get out of dodge. Sykes and Diamond were set up to take over, but deep down, James knew the west wouldn't be the same without Helena George Wells to keep it on it's toes.

_I'm a soldier_

_wounded so I must give up the fight_

_There's nothing more for me_

_lead me away..._

_Or leave me lying here_

Three days til the Regents come.

Lethargy caressed HG's cheeks, luring her into acceptance. She didn't fight, didn't taunt. Helena didn't even try to make a break when Leena the town doc came in to check out her arm. Not a word was said, even the sheriff was concerned about the notoriously arrogant woman slumped against her jail cell.

"Ya sure we got the right woman Jinksy?" Claudia whispered, glancing at the dead-eyed gun wrangler.

"The picture matches, and Myka said we got her. She should know." He shrugs.

"Yeah well Myka also has a thing fer tha chit. Fer all we know she's tellin us it's her ta throw us off."

"I trust Myka, she's a good woman. You should too."

_tell them I don't care_

_There's not a road I know_

_that leads to anywhere_

Two days til the Regents come.

Helena found herself doing small exercises in her cell, bored to tears with waiting for her fate. Even knowing that she had succeeded, that she had gotten the artifact to Sykes, it wasn't enough. She needed to be able to sneer at those regents, rub their bloody mistake in their faces. Helena G. Wells is no Butch Cassidy to get caught in a little hut in the middle of nowhere.

She was the fastest draw this half of the Mason-Dixon line, she had bedded more men and women than the inhabitants of this silly town had ever even seen, and she let this happen. This was her choice and no one elses. The death waiting at the end was not some biased punishment, but the relief she demanded after these so called keepers of peace had taken the only thing precious to her.

It was the Regent's responsibility to kill her, to take her back to her darling child. And then they could all burn. Helena did not want to escape, she did not want to live. This was her last ditch effort to bring justice to the child that should have grown up, gotten to learn, grow, expand her boundaries past the horizon. Now she was trapped, in a tiny wooden box. A box made by the regents, and hammered closed by her mother.

So it was a relief when Claudia, the dear girl, genius that she was, did not manage to catch Helena's band of ruffians. There was no thing on this planet that Helena held dear. No place she wanted to be. Except...

_Then from on high_

_somewhere in the distance_

_There's a voice that calls, _

_"Remember who you are"_

_If you lose yourself _

_your courage soon will follow_

One day til the Regents come.

"How is your arm Helena?" Myka Lattimer had come to visit. Her myriad of small cuts and bruises would have had anyone who didn't know her up in arms. She never went anywhere without at the least, one bandage somewhere on her person. Myka held these scars and wounds as a badge of honor, something which had previously amused, then concerned Helena.

She thought it silly, and a waste of energy to end fights at the tavern herself, and the need for Pete to have his sister keep the peace in his own establishment had given Helena the excuse to fall off her chair clutching her stomach with mocking laughter.

Then as she grew to care for the strong woman, it became more of a chore to find amusement in her lover's pain. The whimpers and gasps caused, not by the silken touch of a calloused trigger-finger, but by the breaks and fractures in skin and bone.

Now, with Myka so damaged by the fight Helena had started to cover her band's escape, she just stared in bewildered wonderment. "How do you do it?" The words slipped out so quickly Helena wasn't even sure they had been said outside her mind.

"Do what?" Myka plucked nervously at her sleeve.

"Survive in so much pain." It was not the same kind of pain, not even the same quality, but perhaps, just maybe Myka could share this deep dark secret with a woman drowning in agony. If only Myka could provide a gentle reprieve from the anguish. Give her the strength to live a day longer.

"Pain? You mean this?" She gestures at her cuts, "I honestly don't notice it anymore."

"Numb." Helena's head dropped back against the bars, "You have become comfortably numb."

"Not numb Helena, but I don't shut out the pain. I cry, I let it hurt, and then I let it go." Myka reached out as if to touch Helena's face, but her hand drew back. She knew Helena wasn't talking about physical aches.

"You should know by now that I do not cry." Helena growled, turning her head away. Really, the gall of that woman, to offer comfort in the form of childish tears.

"And you don't get shot, and you don't get caught, and you never sit in a heap for days without some effort to get away either." Myka replied harshly. "I don't think you remember who you are anymore. You've forgotten all the things you have seen and done. You've run away from the truth, and from everything that makes you the woman I love." She turned around quickly and rushed out of the room, far away from a small woman sitting in the corner, wishing for her demise.

_So be strong tonight _

_remember who you are_

_Yeah you're a soldier now _

_fighting in a battle_

_To be free once more _

_yeah, that's worth fighting for _

The day the Regents come.

Helena paced in her cell, back and forth all the night before, and now this morning. Never once had she stopped moving for more than a minute. The sudden activity was putting the Sheriff on edge. "Hey Jinksy, ya know when the Regents are gettin here?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the restless brigand for a second.

"Uhh, not until noon." Jinks checked out his schedule and nodded. "Yeah, noon."

"Why is it always noon?" Claudia rolls her eyes, settling in for a long morning.

"Dunno boss, why do you always ask?" Jinks shot back, pulling a chuckle from the Sheriff.

"Good point."

The prisoner ignored them, their pointless banter, silly games, useless attempts to wheedle any sort of words from her mouth. She was sick of being treated like an exhibit at a zoo, and it was time for things to start moving.

The long awaited arrival of the Regents finally came to pass, their dusty carriage pulling up in front of the town jail. Arthur got out first, his silk tie immediately ruined by the mix of dust and sweat. He offered his hand to his employer, the esteemed Mrs. Fredrics. A woman to be reckoned with, she did not take no for an answer, and every action had a thousand reasons behind it.

Unfathomable, and mysterious, this woman held most people captive in a thrall of fear. Helena Wells is not most people.

She walks with dignity, her hands shackled behind her, flanked by Claudia and Jinks, the whole town had turned out to see the notorious gunslinger finally put behind bars. Helena smirked, "All for me?" She purrs to Mrs. Fredrics.

Artie blushed, harumphing, and protesting. "Arthur, calm down, your mustache is about to catch fire." Helena chided, "Aren't you happy to see me? Just a little, come on, admit it, you missed the chase. Too bad it was your little protege who caught me."

He growled and took her arm from Steve, "Missed the chase. Humph, not likely. Get in the carriage." He pushed Helena into the claustrophobic little box on wheels and locked the door. She glanced through the little barred window at Myka, standing next to her overprotective brother. Helena pressed a kiss to her palm and blew it to her, winking cheekily.

Myka's eyes widened briefly, then with a tiny smile, she turned away, back to her little tavern where soon, ruffians would be singing songs and getting drunk.

No one else noticed, not even Peter who wanted to watch the last bit of dust settle before he trusted that H.G. was gone. Well, Helena did. She knew, and she had found herself once more.

What Myka had seen as Helena G. Wells left in a separate coach was the total lack of chains on her hands, and a gleam of determination.

Helena Wells was out, and she had a posse to bring back under her wing.

_To be free once more_

_yeah, that's worth fighting for_


	13. I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin

**A/N: **I try not to be a whiner about reviews, but please, these stories are my babies, released far too soon for me to feel confident. Flawed, silly conceived in a single day. For me, on day #13, would you send a review? The heavy silence as thousands read, and maybe a dozen review is deafening me. My muse is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin

Shoutout to John6Lisa, I Wear The Crown, StraightJacket XD, QuimbyCub you all are my bread and butter. thank you for reviewing, providing input, and having some awesome conversations with me.

Characters: Helena POV, Claudia, Myka, Pete

Rating: **K+**

_Fall_

I hit my knees against concrete, light searing my eyes even through closed lids. The rough scrape of the floor across my hands was too much for my desensitized nerves. I let out a hoarse scream that ripped apart my throat, tearing through lungs that had not drawn breath in over a century. Dear God, is this hell? I finally made it.

"What is wrong with her?" The sound was coarse, too loud to be human, or was my perception off? I had been listening through bronze for so long. An arm wrapped around my waist, holding so tight I felt my bones were to break. Was it a gentle touch? A soft whisper? Is this agony only for me?

A weight was thrown across my shoulder, holding me against the hard surface gouging my hands. I was glad my eyes would not open for fear I would see bloody stumps, shredded by concrete and metal. My body shook from the sweltering heat beating on me, breaking through me. I thought I had suffered misery encased in cool bronze, but here my anguish was complete, butchered by the raw environment lacerating my senses.

"She'll be fine, but give her twenty-four hours isolation from light." It was a different voice screaming through my ears, I wondered if the regents had refused to release me to prevent this torture, or to prolong it.

_Now the dark begins to rise_

My Christina, a snarl escaped my lips. No longer a pathetic kitten to be coddled and covered, blind and weak. I want my daughter back. The regents hadn't spared me, they had forgotten me. I paced through my hotel room, hand fisted at my throat where her image should be resting.

"What did you want James?" I sneered, my glare latching onto his wrinkled, weary features, "I tire of this game."

He spread his arms placatingly. I did not want to be placated, I wanted to see something burn. "I want to help you succeed, this world has seen too much, done too much. It needs a rest from the destruction of mankind, I would have your plans carried out."

"Why?" I growled, nothing was going to stand in my way, let alone poorly placed trust.

"Because, we have damned ourselves, we should not damn the next generations."

I laughed harshly, his dark words rang deep in my heart. As much as I wished for my darling girl, this planet was too puny, too small and filled with bigotry. No amount of time would change that, I had already seen this. I will break them for taking her, and then I will make sure that the next pure creatures to be born, will be raised in a utopia far better than that which I had devised.

These creatures made this planet uninhabitable for my darling and myself. It's time to return the favor.

_Save your breath, it's far from over_

Oh do shut up Arthur. I didn't say it aloud, instead I protested my innocence for the thousandth time. Oh for the sweet release of telling them my plan, just let me see their horror, so I can get it over with. Instead I remained in my uncomfortable chair, ignoring Arthur drone on about how I wasn't to be trusted.

It was entertaining to watch Myka blush and pluck at her sleeves in discomfort when our eyes met. I was surprised that she did not see the darkness so close to the surface, ever-threatening to hurry my game along, instead she saw only what she wanted. The arrogance of her to think I could give my love to an inheritor of the world denied my only true love. My girl.

_Leave the lost and dead behind_

There they were, suffocating in a prison of sand. Too much like my daughter, an invasion of privacy, of home to destroy that which was most dear. I could not bear the likeness. I ran, ran like a coward. A bloody coward, too scared to die at my own hands, too eager to let someone else finish the job.

These memories, these painful reminders needed to go, leave me in peace! I screamed my frustration at a blinding blue sky, I did not want this life, or the others, I only wanted my Christina's life, and since I was not allowed to have that, I would have something lesser. The life of a pathetic world, drowning in it's own filth.

_Now's your chance to run for cover_

"Just get out of here Myka!" I screamed from the top of the hill, trident in hand. This damn doublet, they feel my physical injuries, and I feel their bloody emotional trauma. Why did she have to come? "I need to do this!" I struck the ground a second time. My shoulders screamed with the effort, Arthur was quickly bleeding out, Myka.. She's looking into my eyes again. Her green eyes, a different color, but still so much like my Christina it hurt even more than a bullet.

Agony ripped through my center, the world was ripping apart at my hand the same way my skin had felt ripped away with the bronze melting off my skin. There was nothing I wanted, no one who could soothe the aches.

No, Myka you didn't. "Ahh!" I let out an anguished cry, my knees crumbled from under me, leaving me solely hanging onto the trident. That woman had fallen off the precipice of innocence. Myka had loved me, and I was tearing that away more firmly than any pathetic house thief could ever manage. I was inflicting this pain on her. I need to fix this, cure this disease of mankind called love.

Because of this stupid artifact strapped around my body, I could feel every break, and tear again. Myka was ripping at the seams, her mind on the edge of disaster. I would not go through this again, not for a second. This agony seemed drawn to me like moths to the flame, and I could not live in Elysium, let alone Hell with these memories twice over.

_I don't want to change the world_

_I just wanna leave it colder_

"Kill me then!" The words screamed through tears were the only thing that could have broken my focus. My arms were tensed to remove the trident from the ground, slam it down to bathe the Earth in fire and ice. I could have done it, I should have done it, but the pain in those words.

"Don't do it like this Helena, I want you to look me in the eyes and shoot me." Myka held the gun to her smooth forehead, her voice a desperate plea. Those gentle green eyes, was this the expression of my Christina before her death? Fear, pain... Forgiveness.

"I can't." I sank fully to my knees, tears? When had I started crying? Perhaps when I saw that Christina had not left me alone, but given me the gift of a kindred spirit. Damn her for giving me this, this unasked for burden.

_All is lost again_

_But I'm not giving in_

I sat in the back of an SUV arms cuffed with Houdini's own set of trick cuffs. It was amusing to me that a man who could break out of anything had a pair of cuffs that no one could ever break through. The irony struck me in that moment, perhaps because of my situation.

I found my daughter in the eyes of a woman who I had almost killed on a number of occasions. I would have been amused if we had not arrived at my place of judgement.

My shoulders set, a stalked forward to my fate. Their fear could be my staple, feeding on terror sounded like a bath in warm water compared to this reckless coach ride through a life I did not understand, with people who wanted me to be a hero.

_I will not bow_

_I will not break_

My back was stiff, my gaze haughty as I sneered at the practically quivering kittens who deemed themselves worthy to be called regents. "Miss Wells, it has been given to you as a choice for your punishment. Bronzing, or life in prison." Mr Kosan said in his measured voice. I wanted to spit on him. Now that the doublet was removed from me, I came back to my anger.

"You call yourselves merciful." I sneered from my small folding chair. They sat above and around me, but they quailed in their seats. "Children!" I snapped, "You believe death is truly the worst fate? Cold blooded fakes. Regents, protectors." I scoffed, mocking the collective flinch from each of my insults, "What exactly do you protect? Not your agents. Most certainly not the people of this world. Leaving the most dangerous villains alive is not protection, it's sealing their fates." I glared at the worm-like creatures pretending they were above me and laughed maniacally, "I think I would like life in prison so I can see you tear this sheet of deception down around your ears. No amount of paper will hide the rot."

Kosan winced delicately, I wondered if I had hurt his sensibilities, and I tried to remember why I had let Myka talk me down from cleaning this house.

_Watch the end through dying eyes_

_Now the dark is taking over_

I remained in my empty world, contemplating how close I had gotten to finishing off this corrupted sphere. Oh how sweet it would have been. But at the same time, the knowledge that Myka was alive, and well comforted me somewhat.

I grew even more displeased with the regents, loaning me out like a toy. Using my mind for their own purposes. The news that Walter Sykes sought my genius was of no surprise to me now. Everyone else was, why not him? Myka's pleas for my life were adorable in an unwanted fashion.

"Don't I get a choice?" I asked primly, hovering over forest floor with my hands folded. A proper Victorian lady.

"I thought she deserved a say in this." Claudia informed Myka and Pete who were in the middle of a heated argument. Peter held a rock, and Claudia clutched the orb that revealed my holographic form within the Janus coin.

"Destroy the coin." I ordered them. Let this hell end. Let Myka live, let her be a tribute to my girl, and kill me now.

_Fall_

_Show me where forever dies_

_Take the fall and run to Heaven_

The rock, descended slowly, a poetry of motion. I waited with baited breath for my prison to be shattered, for my essence to be scattered to the wind.

"Stop!" Oh my Lord, I will kill whoever said that. I spun around, glaring at the speaker. Marcus and Steve stood before me, their guns pointed at Myka, and Claudia. Claudia took the coin and raced into the woods, and I dissipated to the sight of Myka fighting with Marcus.

There sitting in the coin to be carried off, I couldn't help but hope that no one thought to simply break the orb, leaving me intact. I wanted to be destroyed. I needed this redeeming end, just as the others needed to live.

But It was no longer a matter of retribution, it wasn't a matter of fear or doubt, pain or revenge. This was a matter for agents, impartial, and responsible.

_I will not bow_

_I will not break_

_I will shut the world away_

I relaxed my mind within the coin, spreading out to all the edges, releasing my self image to become what I really was. The bodiless mind of the 'father' of science, a genius, and a pissed off mother.

The world and all it's corruption, all of it's pure joy, beauty, and suffering was lost. A memory lost within a misted white. Each artifact had an escape, I would find this one. Nothing but emptiness spread itself around me.

There it is.

_I will not fall_

_I will not fade_

_I will take your breath away_

The key to my release, a small red thread. The threads that connect each person to the people they were destined to meet, small and red tied around the wrist of a child protected from evil. I took the thread and tied it around my wrist, I followed the trail like Theseus in the Labyrinth, like Dorothy in Oz.

My eyes closed as the heavy weight of limbs pulled me down, down to a floor I could no longer hover over. Light burned my eyes, mini cuts and burns sustained from handling paper needled at my fingers. I could finally feel again.

I knew I was lying on my side, limply resting against linoleum, but I could not resist the chance to press my cheek against the cold, oh so different from my previous encounter with regaining control of a body.

_And I'll survive; paranoid_

_I have lost the will to change_

_And I am not proud, cold-blooded fake_

_I will shut the world away_

Emily Lake is my name, I live in a small town in Montana with my boyfriend Nate. I met him in a cooking class, and he has one daughter Adelaide, a dear girl who keeps my heart warm. I teach high school English. My cat Dickens is spoiled senseless, and the world keeps turning.

I know nothing of the actions of the Regents, and I've no doubt they thought me destroyed when Agent Jinks broke the coin. I don't go on adventures, I don't write, I don't speak with my former friends, and I do not speak of my past.

This is my falsehood, this is my life.

_I will shut the world away._


	14. In The End by Black Veil Brides

**A/N: ** Day#14 the final fic of this series. My personal thanks to all who have contributed to this set of stories, my condolences to those who felt the rushed nature of them. Anyone who would like me to do more of these, or something similar, please PM me, I'm a glutton for punishment.

My muse on this final morning is "In The End." by Black Veil Brides

Rating: **K+**

Characters: A bit of everyone

_In the end_

_As you fade into the night_

_who will tell the story of your life?_

Irene Fredrics had lived a long time, her exploits had encompassed more years than she would ever care to count, and most of them were unpleasant. Now, slumped against Leena, her sweet granddaughter, she could feel the approval of the Warehouse through her connection, the shriveling bond that had fed her body, and strengthened her will. Helena had protected them.

She gripped Leena's arm tightly, tears from the girl dripping onto her neat pink suit. Her skin tightened from the imagined heat of the explosion, and she felt herself turning to ash. Fading into the same dust her companion had left behind. There was nothing left of Irene Fredrics' century of life, and there was nothing left of Warehouse Thirteen.

_In the end_

_As my soul's laid to rest_

_What is left of my body_

Steven Jinks cringed when Marcus pulled the needle out. The drug spread through his veins, melting them away, pulling pieces of him away leaving nothing but numbing silence. Had he looked down, he was sure he would see himself crumbling away like a bottomless game of Tetris.

His mind felt whole and separate, experiencing his cold blooded murder from a distance. Claudia and the others were on their way, but Marcus was long gone. There was no need to look to know that he was going to die, going to leave Claudia alone again.

He had no worries about what he would see after the last piece of his body had fallen away, what happened would happen. Acceptance was his byword. What Steve worried about was his dear friend, sister, Claudia. So young, so hurt, she needed friends and family. With Syke's plan going ahead, he wasn't sure how long she would get to keep that.

In those last seconds, melting away into the blissful sea of nothingness, Steven Jinks prayed that someone would live to take care of Claudia.

_And I have fought_

_And with flesh and blood I commanded an army_

_Through it all I have given my home for a moment of glory_

_I gave it all_

"It is the only way." Helena informed Myka quietly.

"No, you don't have to do this! We can find something else.." Myka was heartbroken, and Helena could hear it. Her expression melted into a rapturous smile, her pitch black eyes lighting up from the inside.

"I smell apples." She said simply. Though her life was to end, though every moment wasted, and all her mistakes played out again, all Helena could think was that each second alive with Myka was a gift. To be cherished. She had no time to profess her feelings, and no inclination to burden Myka that way, instead she shared a joy that could last lifetimes.

Helena George Wells closed her eyes, imagining a warm beach covered in palm fronds, her daughter by her side, and the indistinct image of a dearly loved one making their way across the soft sands. Though the sound was lost among tongues of hatred and flames, H.G. Wells died with a laugh on her lips.

_And who will remember your last goodbye (oh whoa oh oh)_

_Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die._

"Wait here." Myka ordered, stalking around the corner of the small restaurant. The cold encroaching on her heart made it easy to ignore the sensible goody-two shoes telling her this was a bad idea. Myka hefted the flimsy chair before swinging it at the window. She felt a certain rush of power as the window shattered under her blow. Then her actions sunk in.

"Arrivederci!" She waved, and sprinted off with the large cook and angry shopkeeper in tow. Two cops came at her, and Myka elbowed one in the face, and kicked the other in the gut. The impact launched her back into the arms of another officer. Her gaze flicked up while she fought against the grip to see Pete about to come help. 'Just go!' She mouthed.

He followed Artie after a short hesitation, leaving Myka in the hands of two SWAT officers. They shoved her into the back of their squad car with five other people. The cold need to control their circumstances was overwhelming her compassion.

She elbowed the others out of the way to get out of the vehicle first. She knew what was happening, but without the encouragement of Pete and Artie, Myka was barely treading water. She had been a leader all her life. Instinct was kicking in, and this was the perfect place to take command.

"You two, stay with the car, we're going to find a place to hole up." She jerked a thumb at the other three and led them into the main station. They followed willingly, glad to have someone to tell them what to do. Myka squared her shoulders and stalked through the halls, taking out cops with an elbow or a knee.

The melee was supposed to be quick, they all were armed, and there were only three cops in the pit. Then there were five, eight, twelve. The bullet was quick, tearing through her side. The boots kicking her brutally were less merciful. They only stopped once she had stopped moving, the blood seeped through her shirt.

She remembered Helena, the look of peace on her face. Perhaps there was something better awaiting her. Myka let go of her guilt for her actions, regrets, lists of things to do, even books. She let go, and drifted through the sea of darkness with Helena.

_Born a saint_

_Though with every sin I still wanna be holy_

"It didn't hurt at first, but now it kinda does." Pete tried to laugh but it came out as a choked cough. The slow pulse of his heartbeat against his side. His shirt was soaked with it, and Artie was looking panicked. "Do you think I'll remember?"

"Remember what Pete?" Arties hands ghosted over Pete, trying to figure out what to do.

"Dying." He chuckled, his teeth turning red as the blood found another escape.

Artie stared down at Pete, tears welling up in his eyes, "No. No you won't remember."

"You fix this." Pete commanded him weakly, relaxing into death. The pain slipping away into black.

_Isn't how we live we are more than our bodies_

_If I fall I will rise back up and relive my glory_

"Get the Hell out of here and get the thing to make it work." Claudia had growled out through her prison of stone and iron. She counted slowly to one hundred, breathing in deeply.

When Claudia was sure no one could hear, she let out a scream of fury. Jinks was gone, Mrs. F. is dead. The whole world is dying, hopeless, lying in flaming ruins, and all she could do was breath stale air while her legs slowly broke under the pressure. She pounded a fist against the wall. "Damn it!"

The cold that had started seeping into her limbs was shoved back by the rage flooding her system. Claudia's vision turned red around the edges, and her mind was washed clean by anger induced clarity. All she wanted was out, out of this place, out of this horror. The quiet melody of music played around her ears, something was off.

She closed her eyes to focus on the sounds slowly growing louder.

_Who will remember this last goodbye_

_Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die_

"Goodbye Arthur, my dear friend." James Macpherson whispered. Claudia's eyes snapped open to see the wrinkled man standing by Artie's desk, the others were all lying on the floor of the office. James standing above them with a pair of comically large, steam-punky headphones covering his ears. His right hand rested on an odd looking boombox.

The whole thing was rectangular, with one of those really uncomfortable handles, and it had a setup to play just about anything besides a record. On the front, engraved between the speaker fabric was the name, "Philip" in gold. There was no production markings, of course, everything artifact was first edition.

Claudia groaned softly when she tried to get up, her legs felt like they'd had a mammoth sitting on them. She rolled off the couch in the corner, landing with her cheek on one of Artie's many static bags he kept lying around. Claud peeked around the corner of the room, assessing the situation before anything got started.

Helena, Pete, Myka and Mrs. F. weren't breathing, their bodies in various forms of battered. Stabs, bullets, cuts bruises. Artie, he was muttering to himself, his face sunken with care even while unconscious. Steve, he was lying half over the desk, his eyes closed. Claudia couldn't tell if he was okay, she couldn't tell anything.

Claudia pushed herself up onto hands and knees, her bones grinding together uncomfortably, she crawled to the bucket of goo sitting in the corner. Artie kept it for her experiments, and emergencies near the office. James was playing with a pile of discs, the clacking of CD's made her cringe.

The young woman staggered toward James, tilting toward the desk, she stumbled into it as one leg gave way prematurely. James turned around quickly, shoving a hand into his jacket pocket. Claud popped the lid on her bucket of goo and launched the contents at James.

His whole person sparked as a large variety of artifacts on his person were soaked in purple ooze. The music halted immediately, and everyone started coughing as they woke up, or started breathing.

The crushing weight on Claudia's legs disappeared, and she tackled the old man trying to vault over HG and Myka. They landed in a heap on Artie, wrestling until Artie started to help.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Helena coughed.

Leena trembled, "Does anyone else remember what happened? Because I remember dying, and almost going crazy, and a bunch of other things."

"So that wasn't just me?" Pete exclaimed.

Myka sat trembling, and Mrs. F. was paler than anyone thought possible. "Remind me to keep far away from the music isle." Claudia growled, taking the pair of cuffs from Macpherson.

They all agreed.


End file.
